City of Bones- Jace's POV
by jpjordicat
Summary: City of Bones in Jace's point of view! Hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Pandemonium

**Author's note: Hey guys! This is my first story on fan-fiction and I really hope you guys enjoy! I will try to post chapters up once a week, or even more frequently if i get bored :)**

**Chapter One: Pandemonium**

"Mundanes, they're so clueless." said Jace Wayland to his best friend Alec Lightwood. "Dancing around like they have no care in the world. I mean, look at them, they don't realize there is a demon here."

"Yes. If only they were lucky enough to have the sight, then they might recognize a human from a demon." Alec said.

Jace grins at his friend and tries to find Isabelle Lightwood, Alec's sister. His eyes immediatly found her, dressed in her long white dress, her beautiful black long hair falling past her waist, and her red pendant the size of a baby's fist. She looks right at them and gives a slight nod.

"It's go time." Jace said to Alec. They saw the demon as he foolishly followed Isabelle into the door labeled NO ADMITTANCE- STORAGE.

The door shut and Jace pulled out his blade.

They walked in as Isabelle was slapping the demon fierce with her gloden whip. She smiled her glittering smile and looked at Jace and her brother. "He's all yours, boys."

Jace laughed a low laugh and hauled the demon off the ground and threw him against the concrete pillars. He pulled the demon's hands behind his back with wire. "So," Jace said. "Are there anymore with you?"

"Any other what?" The demon said. _Okay so not the best liar_, Jace thought as he made a silent chuckle at the demon's stupidity.

"Come on now." Jace held up his hands and rolled his sleeves up, showing off his highly marked skin. "You know what I am."

_"Shadowhunter_." The demon hissed.

Jace had his huge grin all over his face. "Got you."

"So," Jace said. "You still haven't told me if there were anymore of your kind with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." The demon's voice was filled with pain, but he sounded sure.

"He means other demons," Alec said, speaking for the first time in the presence of the demon. "You do know what a demon is, don't you?"

The demon turned his head away without even answering Alec's question.

"Demons," Jace said as he drew the word in the air with his finger. "Religiously defined as hell's denizens, the servants of Satan, but understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside our own home dimension-"

"That's enough, Jace," said Isabelle.

"Isabelle's right," agreed Alec. "Nobody her needs a lesson in semantics- or demonology."

Jace raised his head and smiled. He was enjoying himself, but he isn't finished. "Isabelle and Alec think I talk too much," he said."Do you think I talk too much?" With no reply to that question, Jace assumes his answer is no.

"I could give you information," the demon said, sounding like he was struggling to talk. "I know where Valentine is."

_Stupid thing thinks we'll believe that_, thought Jace

Jace glanced up at Alec, who's face was tightened. "Valentine's in the ground," Jace ensured him. "The thing's just toying with us."

Isabelle tossed her hair. "Kill it, Jace," she said. "It's not going to tell us anything."

Jace raised his hand, blade in position, ready to strike at the discusting creature.

The demon gasped. "Valentine is back!" he protested, trying to struggle his way through the wire. "All the Infernal Worlds know it- I know it- I can tell you where he is-"

Jace's golden eyes filled with rage as he spoke to the thing. "Bye the Angel, everytime we catch one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. Well, we know where he is too. He's in hell. And you-" Jace turned the blade in his grasp. "You can join him there."

"Stop!" cried a voice. "You can't do this!"

Jace moved his golden hair out of his veiw, and saw a girl- a mundane girl- standing with fear in her big green eyes. Jace dropped his blade with shock as he stood speechless. The girl had bright red locks falling over her shoulders, and she was tiny. The demon also stood stunned to see this mundane speaking to them.

"What's this?" Alec spoke first, much to their surprise, and looked at them as if they might have an explination as to what she was doing here.

"It's a girl," Jace said, recovering his composure. "Surely you've seen girls before, Alec. You're sister Isabelle is one." He stepped closer to the girl as he spoke, squinting, trying to believe in what he was seeing. "A mundie girl," he said, half to himself. "And she can see us."

"Of course I can see you," The girl said, confusion escaping her mouth "I'm not blind you know."

"Oh but you are," Jace said, his eyes still on the girl as he bent to pick up his knife. "You just don't know it." He straightened himself. "You'd better get out of here if you know what's good for you."

"I'm not going anywhere," The girl said. "If I do, you'll kill him." She pointed over to the blue haired demon.

"That's true," Jace admitted twirling his blade between his fingers. "What do you care If I kill him or not?"

"Be-because," the girl splutterd. "You can't just go around killing people."

"You're right," Jace said. "you can't just go around killing_ people_." He pointed at the demon, who looked as if he were about to faint. "That's not a person, little girl. It may look like a person and talk like a person and maybe even bleed like a person. But it's a monster."

"Jace," Isabelle warned. "That's enough."

"You're crazy," The girl said, backing away from him like he was the demon. "I've called the police, you know. They'll be here any second."

"She's lying," Alec said, though even Jace could see a bit of doubt on his face. "Jace, do you-"

At that moment, the demon screamed a yowling cry, and tore free of the wire that held him in place. Then, he flung himslef at Jace. Rolling around with the demon on top of him, Jace panicked. The demon tore at Jace's face with his hands glittering like metal. As Jace looked up, he saw the mudane trip on some wire. Isabelle shrieked with fear for Jace. The demon, still on top of Jace's chest, had blood dripping from his clawlike hands.

Isabelle and Alec ran toward him, Izzy whip in her hand. The demon slashed at him again. Jace, bringing an arm up to protect himself, got splattered with blood. The demon lunged toward him again and Isabelle whipped his back bringing him down to the ground hard and fast.

Jace rolled over swiftly, blade in hand. He sank the blade into the demon's chest. Exploding in blackish liquid, the demon twisted and gurgled. Jace stood with a grimice, his black shirt somehow looking blacker with blood. He yanked the knife out of the thing's chest, the floor black with blood.

The demon's eyes flickered open, staring at Jace in a burning power of hatred. "_So be it. The forsaken will take you all_." the demon hissed his last words as he crumpled and struggled, and suddenly vaished into thin air.

Alec was studying Jace's arm to make sure the injury wasn't too bad, while Isabelle whipped the mundie girl's wrists. She gasped at the pain that drew from the whip.

"Stupid little mundie," Isabelle said between her teeth. "You could've gotten Jace killed."

"He's crazy," The girl said, desperatly trying to pull her wrist back. "You're all crazy. What do you think you are, vigilante killers? The police-"

Jace decided to interupt their nice conversation. "The police aren't usually interested unless you can produce a body," He said, cradling his arm, he picked his way across the cable-strewn floor toward the girl. Alec followed him with a scowl on his face.

Jace saw her eyes drift over to where the body once lay, and the floor had no blood on it whatsoever.

"They return to their home dimentions when they die," Jace confirmed. "In case you were wondering."

"Jace," Alec hissed. "Be careful."

Jace drew his arm down, feeling the blood on his face. "She can see us, Alec," he said. "She already knows too much."

"So what do you want me to do with her?" Isabelle demanded.

"Let her go." Jace whispered. Isabelle looked angry with him, but didn't argue. She let go of the girl's arm, who rubbed her wrist.

"Maybe we should bring her back with us," Alec suggested. "I bet Hodge would like to talk to her."

"No way are we bringing her to the institute," Isabelle scowled at her brother in shock. "She's a mundie."

"Or is she?" Said Jace quietly. It would make sense if she were one of them, or one of their world. How else could she possibly see them? "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl? Walked with worlocks, talked to the Night Children? Have you-"

"My name is not 'little girl'" she interupted. "And I have no idea what you're talking about." Jace could see wheels turning in her head and wondered what she was thinking about. "I don't believe in- in demons, or whatever you-"

"Clary?" A peculiar boy, whom apparently knew the girl, Clary, was standing in the doorway looking extremely confused and worried. "Are you okay?" He looked around the room in sudden curiosity. "Why are you in hear by yourself? What happened to the guys- you know, the ones with the knives?"

Clary looked back at them in awe, as if she really thought they would be getting away with this if they could be seen. Jace shrugged at her, a half apologetic, half mocking shrug.

She turned back around toward the bouncer and her friend. "I thought they went in here," she said lamely. "But I guess they didn't. I'm sorry." She looked at the boy who looked worried and embarressed. The bouncer was annoyed. "It was a mistake." she assured them.

Isabelle let out a small giggle at the mundane.


	2. Chapter 2: Secrets and Lies

Hey everyone! I'm so excited for this chapter because this one is pretty much all original. I hope you guys like it!

Chapter 2: Secrets and Lies

Jace, Alec and Isabelle were walking home from Pandemonium in complete awkward silence.

"Alec," Isabelle whispered, but Jace could hear her.

"I know what you are going to say, Izzy. But I didn't screw up, she could see us, Isabelle. She has the sight. She's special." Jace said, trying to stick up for what he did.

"Maybe, Jace, but you didn't have to tell her everything about us!" Isabelle retorted. "Maybe she would've thought she imagined it, that she had a little too much to drink! Hello! She is a mundane! She can't tell the difference between a dream, and an unrealistic situation!"

"She's right, Jace. And as much as I hate to say it, I agree with her. You can't go around telling mundanes, whether they can see or not, about the existance of Shadowhunters and demons." Alec said, kind of shy and stand-off-ish.

Jace stared at them both hard and cold. "I know what I'm doing." He said and walked ahead of them until they reached the institute.

He walked in, Izzy and Alec on his heals, just to see Hodge standing and waiting for an explination.

"Did you kill it?" Hodge said. The three just looked at the ground and nodded, like three kids saying they ate their veggies, but really they gave it to the dog.

"Jace has something important to tell you," Isabelle said, suddenly nervous and shaky. Izzy can't stand getting in trouble.

"Jace, come with me to the library, okay?" Hodge said, one eyebrow raised. They walked in utter silence, just as he did coming home from Pandemonium. Jace took a quick look at Hodge. His eyebrows were furrowed and he had huge bags under his eyes, like he hasn't even shut his eys for a week. Hodge had been his tutor for seven years, and he has never seen him look this tired and stressed, and even old. Hodge, even with his gray hair, had always looked timeless.

When they reached the library, Church, the cat that's been at the institue before Jace had even been there, snuggled against him and purred. "Hey Church." Jace said, trying to trying to speak as calmly as he can. Jace looked up to see the huge library full of everything you could ever imagine. Everytime he came in here he felt out of place. This looked like a library for the royal, not him. But he took a seat on the couch as Hodge stared at him for a moment. It was like his way to try and read Jace's expression, as they were near impossible to read.

"What is it you need to tell me Jace?" Hodge said, speaking in a tone that said 'I'm bored I want to go to sleep, I'm bored I want to go to sleep'. Jace started to speak in his usual sarcastic tone.

"We were fighting off the demon, which, by the way, was a Eidolon demon, so it looked like a person. So when I was about to kill the demon, a girl saw us and demanded theat we stop because it wasn't okay to just kill people-"

Hodge looked startled and suddenly interested. "A mundie girl? She saw you?"

"Yes. We were all very surprised but I started to tell her that it wasn't a person and she looked at me like I was crazy-"

"Of course she did! You shouldn't have told her that you were shadowhunters! The girl is going to be driven to an asylum! What were you thinking? That she would just hop on board and act normal about this? I though you-"

Jace rolled his eyes. He was getting tired of this. He knew what he was doing. She had the sight, therefore, she had the right to understand what was going on. Hodge was still rambling on but Jace wasn't listening. He didn't care enough to listen. Nobody thinks he's up to any good, but he's better than any of them!

"-the only solution would be to bring the girl here!" Hodge said, interrupting Jace's thoughts.

"Okay, I'm not dissagreeing with you, but your solution to her being able to see us, is to bring her to a world full of shadowhunter? No offense, but that makes no sense to me." Jace said, enjoying how he made Hodge feel stupid for a second.

"Do you want to know why she can see us? Do you want to know what's wrong with her?" Hodge said.

Silence. Of course he did. There was something about the girl that fascinated her.

"Jace," Hodge said, "Go find Isabelle and tell her to find the mundane."

"What?" Jace said. "No, I'll find her. Hodge, you've got to be kidding me. You know that I'm always much better when it comes to these things."

"Well, you are extraordinary, but don't you think that since Isabelle's a girl, they might get along better?"

"So? We don't need to get along. Her best friend is a boy. Plus, I'm pretty sure we can all agree, I'm very good at convincing... especially girls." Jace persuaded.

"Jace, we have to-"

"I'm going and that's final." Jace walked out of the room without one last word to Hodge.

Jace grabbed his jacket and was about to walk out the door when he felt a light touch on his shoulder. Alec was standing right behind him, clearly wanting to talk. Jace followed his friend to the couch in the living room.

"Jace, I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have argued with you. You know what you're doing, you always do. If you're angry with me I understand-"

"Yeah, yeah I am. But I'll get over it by morning. No big deal. I'm more frustraded than mad. I can't tell you how many times you guys doubt me, but most of the time I end up saving your lives. Just think about that the next time you tell me I'm doing something wrong." Jace said sounding kind of angry, although it wasn't supposed to come out that way.

"Jace-" started Alec. Jace stood up, gave Alec a wave, and headed out the door to find the peculiar mundane girl.


	3. Chapter 3: Shadowhunter

**Hey everyone! I hope everyone enjoys this because I love this chapter in the book and I had a lot of fun writing this! Thanks!**

** Chapter 3: Shadowhunter**

**** Jace looked everywhere. He guessed she would be somewhere in Brooklyn, considering there are tons of people who live there that go to Pandemonium. But he had to look everywhere, because he couldn't take the chance of not finding her.

He turned downtown right next to a small coffee shop that looked kind of packed, you know, for a coffee shop.

Than he saw her. Just barely, but in the window he saw a flash of bright red hair, and knew that was her. He used the glamour, to make sure nobody saw him and accused him of stalking the girl, and walked right on in.

He took a seat right behind her and the mundane boy and, as much as he hated doing it, eavesdropped.

The boy hid his face when a strange kid, about his age, with a pink stripe in his hair, started wailing into the microphone.

_"Come, my faux juggernaut, my nefarious loins! Slather every proturbence with arid zeal!" _The pink haired boy wailed. _Hodge better be grateful when I get home, because this is pure agony. _Jace thought to himself.

"Please don't tell anyone I know him." The boy said.

"Who uses the word 'loins'?" The girl giggled. Her laugh was soft and sweet, he noticed.

"Eric," The boy said grimly. "All of his poems have loins in them." _Eric, _Jace thought. _So that's the pink haired boy._

_"Turgid is my torment! Agony lies within!"_ Eric screamed, melodramatically.

"You bet it does," The mundie girl said, as a side thought. "Anyway, about that girl who thinks you're cute-"

"Never mind that for a second," The boy said, looking very nervous. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about." Jace automatically knew where _this _was heading.

"Furious Mole is not a good name for a band." She said immediately. Jace had no clue what to think about that one.

"Not that," The boy said. "It's about what we were talking about before. About me not having a girlfriend." Yup, Jace was right.

"Oh." The girl said as she lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Oh, I don't know. Ask Jaida Jones out," She suggested. "She's nice, and she likes you." Jace let out a laugh, but was able to recover with a cough. She really didn't see it did she? His stomach tightened at the thought of the two together. They seemed so... _similar._ It seemed to him that it would be like going out with your sibling if that made any sense.

"I don't want to ask Jaida Jones out."

"Why not?" She looked disappointed. "You don't like smart girls? Still seeking a _rockin' bod?" _He hid his laughter again.

"Neither," The boy said, who seemed agitated. I mean, who could blame him? Jace would've reacted the same way. "I don't want to ask her out because it wouldn't really be fair to her if I did..." He trailed off. Poor guy can't get his thoughts out to her. Not that she was much help, just sitting there clueless. She leaned forward seeming eager to hear the boy's story.

"Why not?"

"Because I like someone else," He said, which should have gotten her attention.

"Okay," The boy started to look green. He felt a little bit of pity for him, but that never lasts long. "You're not gay, are you?" At that, Jace busted out laughing. He couldn't help it. The boy is expressing his love for her, and she thinks he's gay. Classic. She didn't seem to hear him though, probably the interest she had in her conversation.

"If I were, I would dress better." The boy said, his face looking greener.

"So, who is it, then?" She asked. He laughed, loudly this time, tried to cover it with a cough, but was unsuccessful. She turned around and looked at him in astonishment.

He smiled at her in amusement, as the boy turned around as well. But this didn't bother Jace. He didn't have the sight. "What is it?" The boy asked, probably upset that something interrupted his confession. Or relieved. Jace couldn't tell.

Jace waved at her at went outside, knowing she would follow. He slouched against the wall as the door swung open. He was punching random buttons on his sensor, to make him look as if he was distracted. "Your friend's poetry is terrible," He said.

She blinked, obviously caught off guard. "What?"

"I said his poetry was terrible. It sounded like he ate a dictionary and started vomiting up words at random." He spoke the truth. It felt as if his eardrums were bleeding. Well, not really but it was bad.

"I don't care about Eric's poetry," She sounded furious. "I want to know why you're following me."

"Who said I was following you?"

"_Nice _try. And you were eavesdropping, too. Do you want to tell me what this is about, or should I just call the police?"

"And tell them what?" Jace said, annoyed with the fact that she didn't get, no one can see him. "That invisible people are bothering you? Trust me, little girl, the police aren't going to arrest someone they can't see."

"I told you before, my name is not little girl," She said through gritted teeth. "It's Clary."

"I know," he said. "Pretty name. Like the herb, clary sage. In the old days people thought eating the seeds would let you see the Fair Folk. Did you know that?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't know much, do you?" he said, tired and ready to get this over with. "You seem to be a mundane like every other mundane, but yet you can see me. It's a conundrum."

"What's a mundane?"

"Someone of the human world. Someone like you."

"But _you're _human," she said.

"I am," he said. "But I'm not like you." He said it confidently enough. To be honest, it doesn't matter if she believes him, because once she comes back to the Institute, she'll have to.

"You think you're better. That's why you were laughing at us."

"I was laughing at you because declarations of love amuse me, especially when unrequited," he said. She still looked confused. "And because your Simon is one of the most mundane mundanes I've ever encountered. And because Hodge thought you might might be dangerous, but if you are, you certainly don't know it."

"_I'm_ dangerous?" She was astonished. She amused him. "I saw you kill someone last night. I saw you drive a knife up under his ribs, and-" She cut off. He wondered what she was thinking, when she looked over him. _She's noticing that I'm healed. _Jace thought.

"I may be a killer," he said, "but I know what I am. Can you say the same?"

"I'm an ordinary human being, just like you said. Who's Hodge?"

"My tutor. And I wouldn't be so quick to brand yourself as ordinary, if I were you." He leaned forward. "Let me see your right hand."

"My right hand?" She echoed. He nodded. "If I show you my hand, will you leave me alone?"

"Certainly." He said with amusement. Of course he wouldn't. She held up her right hand unwillingly. Her arm was pale with a light dusting of freckles. He took her hand in his and turned it over. "Nothing." He said, disappointed. "You're not left-handed, are you?"

"No. Why?"

He released her hand with a shrug. "Most Shadowhunter children get Marked on their right hands- or left, if they're left-handed like I am- when they're still young. It's a permanent rune that lends an extra skill with weapons." He showed her the back of his left hand. He could tell she couldn't see it.

"I don't see anything," she said.

"Let your mind relax," he suggested. "Wait for it to come to you. Like waiting for something to rise to the surface of water."

"Your crazy." she stated. But he saw her eyes focus and her shoulders roll back. "A tattoo?"

A smile crept on his face. "I thought you could do it. And it's not a tattoo- it's a Mark. They're runes, burned into our skin."

"They make you handle weapons better?" She looked as if she didn't believe him, but was trying to go along with it anyway.

"Different Marks do different things. Some are permanent but the majority vanish when they've been used."

"That's why your arms aren't all inked up today?" she asked. "Even when I concentrate?"

"That's exactly why." He was pleased that he could actually get something through to her. She seemed very hard to convince. _She's definently a challenge. _Jace thought to himself. _But I'm good with challenges. _"I knew you ad the Sight, at least." He glanced up at the sky. "It's nearly full dark. We should go." he said, trying to sneak the _we _but it didn't work.

_"We? _I thought you said you were going to leave me alone."

"I lied," Jace said, without any embarrassment. He loved making her, or anyone, angry. It brought him joy. "Hodge said I have to bring you to the Institute with me. He wants to talk to you."

"Why would he want to talk to me?"

"Because you know the truth now," Jace said. "There hasn't been a mundane who knew about us for at least a hundred years."

"About _us?_" she echoed. "You mean people like you. People who believe in demons."

"People who kill them," said Jace. "We're called Shadowhunters. At least, that's what we call ourselves. The Downworlders have a less complimentary name for us."

"Downworlders?"

"The Night Children. Warlocks. They fey. The magical folk of this dimension."

She shook her head. "Don't stop there. I suppose there are also, what, vampires and werewolves and zombies?"

"Of course there are," Jace informed her. "Although you mostly find zombies farther south, where the _voudun _priests are."

"What about mummies? Do they only hang around Egypt?"

"Don't be ridiculous. No one believes in mummies."

"They don't?"

"Of course not," Jace said. "Look, Hodge will explain all this to you when you see him."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What if I don't want to see him?"

"That's your problem. You can come either willingly or unwillingly."

She looked stunned. "Are you threatening to _kidnap _me?"

"If you want to look at it that way," Jace said, "yes."

She was infuriated. He could tell she was about to protest but the buzzing of her phone cut her off.

"Go ahead and answer that if you'd like." Jace said generously.

The phone stopped ringing, then started up again, loud and insistent. She frowned and turned away from him so she could pick up the phone. "Mom?"

Jace heard a muffled voice that sounded frantic, but relieved at the moment.

"It's all right Mom. I'm fine. I'm on my way home-"

"_No!" _ Jace heard the yell through the phone and looked up. He suddenly heard huge crashes and thumps on the phone. His stomach clenched. This didn't sound good. It's not a coincidence that the girl with the Sight's mother seems to be in danger.

"Mom!" Clary was shouting into the phone. "Mom, are you all right?"

A loud buzzing was all Jace heard along with the muffled, terrified voice of her mother.

"Who's found you? Mom, did you call the police? Did you-"

There was a slithering sound that Jace could hear followed by a thump. Clary's mother said something loud enough for Jace to hear. "I love you Clary." Than that was it.

_"Mom!" _ Clary shrieked into the phone. "Mom, are you there?"

"Clary," Jace said, speaking her name aloud for the first time. "What's going on?"

She ignored him, which was to be expected. Besides his stunning looks, he isn't that great at making people trust him. She began to shake and he ran toward her. He was scaring her, and Jace isn't the scared type.

She dropped her phone out of shock and despair. When she went down to the ground to retrieve it, the screen was cracked. "Dammit!" She looked as if she were about to cry, but was afraid to. She threw her phone down.

"Stop that." Jace hauled her to her feet, gripping her wrist, and hard, but he knew that. "Has something happened?"

"Give me your phone," Clary said, grabbing his sensor out of his shirt pocket. "I have to-"

"It's not a phone," Jace said with no attempt to get it back. "It's a sensor. You won't be able to use it."

"But I need to call the police!"

"Tell me what happened first." She was struggling to break free of his grip, but it was incredibly strong. "I can _help you."_

She got mad, he could tell because she ripped free of his grip and clawed his face with her nails. He staggered back, out of surprise more than pain. She ran into the ally and he saw her turn around, but she couldn't see him. As soon as she was out of sight, he started to follow her.


	4. Chapter 4: Ravener

**Hey guys! Sorry this one is a little late because I was out of town this weekend, but hopefully you guys will like this!**

Chapter 4: Ravener

Running after her gave Jace a sense of panic and adrenaline. His face stung where she struck him with her nails. Wind blew through his hair and he brushed it out of his face. He stood still for a second. He didn't see which direction she was heading. How was he supposed to know where she lived? Jace shook his head and turned left.

"Clary!" he shouted, knowing she was the only one who could've heard him. He came to a DON"T WALK sign, and swerved through the cars ever so swiftly, considering nobody could see him. He didn't care, he had to find her and bring her to Hodge.

He remembered the way he forced Hodge to let him be the one to find her. He's not sure why, Clary just fascinates him. Even though she acts like a mundane, she has shadowhunter qualities. _I doubt it was a coincidence that she was at Pandemonium that night, _Jace thought after he saw her that night. _she can see us, what if she's one of us?_

He saw an apartment complex and decided it would't hurt to start there. He ran in there all glamoured up and almost ran into an old women. She seemed to look right at him, but turned away, making him seem to himself more sane than he has been feeling. That's when heard it. A familiar shriek. People started whispering and taking their phones out, probably calling the police.

He ran up the stairs, and followed the loud noises to an apartment. She seemed to leave the door unlocked, so he busted in quick and fast. He could _smell_ the demon energy. There was blood on the floor, wet and fresh. He started to panic. "Clary! Where are you?" He heard her scream again, but this one sounded faint, as if she just didn't have the energy to scream. He followed the sound.

There she was. In what seemed to be her mother's room, lying in a pool of blood, with a Ravener demon atop of her. He saw his sensor inside the Ravener before he dissapeered. He rushed to her side and swept her up. He took her downstairs as quickly as he possibly could. He lay her behind her apartment building in the grass.

When she woke he was in the middle of ripping cloth to try and stop the bleeding best he could. He saw her eyes open, those big green eyes filled with confusion, loss, and pain. "Don't move." He said.

She turned her head and gasped a painful gasp. Her eyes seemed to widen as she saw the demons disguised as police officers, to cover their tracks. She tried sit up and gagged. Her fingers dug into the ground hard.

"I told you not to move," Jace hissed. "That Ravener demon got you in the back of the neck. It was half-dead so it wasn't much of a sting, but we have to get you to the Institute. Hold still."

"That thing- the monster- it _talked._" Clary said, shuddering uncontrollably.

"You've heard a demon talk before." Jace tried to be gentle. Poisin was inside her body right now, and he couldn't cause her anymore pain than she is already experienced. He tied the cloth under her neck. He felt kind of a cold feeling when he touched her. She was shivering, one of many symptoms when you've been attacked by a demon.

"That demon in Pandemonium- it looked like a person."

"It was an Eidolon demon. A shape-changer. Raveners look like they look. Not very attractive, but they're too stupid to care."

"It said it was going to eat me."

"But it didn't. You killed it." Jace finished the knot and sat back.

Clary sat up with a relieved look all over her face. "The police are here." Her voice was hoarse. "We should-"

"There's nothing they can do. Somebody probably heard you screaming and reported it. Ten to one of those aren't real police officers. Demons have a way of hiding their tracks."

"My mom," Clary said as her forehead furrowed as if trying to think really hard.

"There's Ravener poison coursing through your veins _right_ now. You'll be dead in an hour if you don't come with me." He stood up and held out his hand to her. She grabbed it, her shaking hand in his, and pulled herself upright. "Come on."

Jace looked over at Clary who was walking kind of off balance. He slid his arm across her back to try and steady her. "Can you walk?"

"I think so." She turned away from him looking at the demon-policemen. She turned back to him quick with widened eyes. She turned back around and he saw what she was staring at. The demons' hands were like claws. "Her hands-"

"I told you they might be demons." Jace looked at the back of the building. "We have to get out of here. Can we go through the ally?"

Clary shook her head. "It's bricked up. There's no way-" She started to cough and put her hand to her mouth. She whimpered when her hand came back red.

He grabbed her wrist fast and turned it over. Her wrist was so pale, like porcelain. She had a light dusting of freckles on it. It would have almost been perfect if it weren't for the poison running through those veins right now. Her knees buckled, but she stayed up, due to the firm grip he had on her wrist. He took out his stele and drew a rune on her wrist. He felt her try to pull away, but his grip was hard. Although he was extremely nervous inside._ If she is not a shadowhunter, and I am putting a rune on a mundane, she will turn into forsaken._ He thought. Though he was very sure that this would work. When he was finished, she examined the black design of overlapping circles on her skin.

"What's that supposed to do?"

"It'll hide you," he said. "Temporarily." He slid the stele back into his belt and caught her questioning look. "My stele."

She didn't bother asking what that was because just a moment later, she look light-headed. "Jace," she said, saying his name for the first time, and falling into his arms.

He panicked. "Clary?" What if he did this? What if the rune had this effect on her? He caught her and hurried to the Institute as fast as he could.

He walked up to the Institute and pulled the door open. When he got in, blood and ichor dripped onto the ground as he went to find Hodge. He was in the kitchen grabbing something to eat, when he turned and saw Jace holding the unconscious mundane in his strong arms. "Jace, you're getting blood and ichor all over the place! This is why Isabelle should've gone. She wouldn't-"

"She was attacked by a Ravener demon, and killed it. She has poison running throughout her body right now and she needs to be treated. Right away."

"She killed it? How?"

"I'm sure she'll explain the details once she wakes up, and the only way she will is if you treat her best you can."

"All right, hand her over. You look exhausted. Go to sleep."

Jace hesitantly handed her over to Hodge, and passed out in his room.


	5. Chapter 5: Clave and Covenant

**Okay, so it didn't take my mom that long to finish this book... but anyways thanks for 1000 views! Hope you guys enjoy this!**

"Jace! There is still a little bit of blood right here!" Hodge yelled in his best tough guy voice. Jace half ran, half walked over to where Hodge was standing, finger pointing at the ground.

"I'll get it, but you have to know it's taking all the man-power out of me to clean the floors like your maid." Jace said in a slight grunt. It's been three days since he saved Clary and brought her here. She still hasn't woken up. Jace finds himself thinking back to when Hodge was first teaching him, Izzy and Alec the effects runes have on mundanes. But it's not possible he killed her, is it? Or turned her into Forsaken? Since then though, he hasn't been able to sleep. Everyday had seemed to be a lazy day. Today, was just another day of that sort. He was dressed in jeans and a gray t-shirt, with his hair all messed up. He never bothered to wear shoes in the Institute because that would mean more cleaning. "Hodge, has she woken up yet?"

Hodge shook his head looking at the ground. "Still waiting. Isabelle is usually found in there. She is interested on the differences between mundanes and ourselves. I asked that she would make sure she had something to eat when she wakes up. Unless you might want to see her, you can-"

"No," Jace said suddenly, not even been able to know his own reasoning as to why he said it. "Isabelle's got it. I'm exhausted anyway."

"All right. Once you are done there, there is some breakfast on the table. I didn't eat any because, well, Isabelle made it, so no." Hodge made a disgusted face. Not that he could blame him. Isabelle can't cook for the life of her. Jace finished scrubbing and looked at his work. _Nice and shiny, _he thought._ I'm even amazing at scrubbing, who would've thought?_

Jace made his way into the kitchen, only to see chewy bacon and burnt pancakes on the table. "Gross." He opened the fridge and had yogurt instead. Heading out of the kitchen, yogurt in hand, he nearly stepped on Church. He bent over to pet the cat. "Hey Church." Church likes Jace the most of everyone here, though no one knows why. Jace thinks that maybe they're some-what alike. I mean, Isabelle and Alec are family. Jace is adopted, and Church probably i too. I mean, he had to have a family at one point. Thinking about his father made him shudder. He stood up and walked to the music room. His father taught him how to play a couple things on the piano, but that's all Jace ever played. Never thought of trying a new song. He assumed that his father showed him these songs for a reason. Maybe they were his favorites. Jace remembered him listening to music alot, but never recognized the song he taught him.

Jace sat on the bench and started to play. The keys familiar beneath his fingers. He still was not perfect at this one, there were some really fast melodies he couldn't reach at full tempo yet, and some notes that were still unfamiliar, but he vowed to learn it. He was in the middle of the chorus when he heard a slight gasp. "Alec?" he said. "Is that you?"

"It's not Alec. It's me." He saw a figure step out of the shadows. "Clary."

He felt a wash of relief and a pang of guilt to see her confused expression. This is so new to her. Piano keys jangled as he got to his feet. "Our own sleeping beauty. Who finally kissed you awake?"

"Nobody. I woke up on my own."

"Was there anyone there with you?"

"Isabelle, but she went off to get someone- Hodge I think. She told me to wait, but-"

"I should have warned her about your habit of never doing what you're told." He looked at what she was wearing and squinted. He had to burn her clothes earlier because of the ichor. She was wearing a red tank top with a plunging red neckline, which was too big for her and wasn't the right cut considering it was made for girls with a bigger chest, and jeans that were folded up at the bottom at least 4 times. "Are those Isabelle's clothes? They look ridiculous on you."

"I could point out that you burned _ my_ clothes."

"It was purely precautionary." He slid the piano cover down, eyes still on her. "Come on, I'll take you to Hodge."

They spent a few moments in complete silence as he noticed Clary looking at all the rooms.

"Why does this place have so many bedrooms?" Clary asked. "I thought this was a research institute."

"This is the residential wing. We're pledged to offer safety and lodging to any Shadowhunter who requests it. We can house up to two hundred people in here."

"But most of these rooms are empty."

"People come and go. Nobody stays for long. Usually it's just us- Alec, Isabelle, Max, their parents- me and Hodge."

"Max?"

"You met the beauteous Isabelle? Alec is her elder brother, Max is the youngest, but he's overseas with his parents."

"On vacation?"

"Not exactly." Jace hesitated. "You can think of them as-as foreign diplomats, and this is an embassy, of sorts. Right now they're in the Shadowhunter home country, working out some very delicate peace negotiations. They brought Max with them because he's so young."

"Shadowhunter home country?" She blinked a couple of times, showing that she was confused. "What's it called?"

"Idris."

"I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have." His voice sounded irritated. "Mundandes don't know about it. There are wardings- protective spells- up all over the borders. If you tried to cross into Idris, you'd simply find yourself transported instantly from one border to the next. You'd never know what happened."

"So it's not on any maps?"

"Not on mundie ones. For our purpose you can consider it a small country between Germany and France."

"But there isn't anything between Germany and France is Switzerland."

"Precisely," said Jace.

"I take it you've been there. To Idris, I mean."

"I grew up there." He could remember his childhood as if it was yesterday, but the memory of his father's death was too painful to talk about. "Most of us do. There are, of course, Shadowhunters all over the world. We have to be everywhere, because demonic activity is everywhere. But to a Shadowhunter, Idris is always 'home'."

"Like Mecca or Jerusalem," said Clary, who seemed to be getting the point. "So most of you are brought up there, then when you grow up-"

"We're sent where we're needed," Jace said shortly. "there are a few, like Isabelle and Alec, who grow up away from the home country because that's where their parents all the resources of the Institute here, with Hodge's training-" He broke off. "This is the library."

They were at the arched-shaped set of wooden doors, the entrance to the magnificent library he was excited to show her, when Church came up and lay down in front of them. Jace started to stroke his blue-white fur with his foot. "Hey, Church," He said. Church's eyes slit with pleasure as Jace was stroking him.

"Wait," said Clary. "Alec and Isabelle and Max- they're the only shadowhunters your age you know, that you spend time with?"

Jace stopped stroking the cat, wondering what brought up that question. "Yes."

"That must get kind of lonely."

"I have everything I need." And with that he pushed the doors open and walked inside, with Clary on his heels.

Clary's eyes were wide open. She browsed the front book shelves. She admired the shape of it, the details, the piece of artwork on the floor, the big wooden desk that had angels carved into it, and Hodge sitting behind the desk.

"A book lover, I see," he said, smiling at Clary. "You didn't tell me that, Jace."

Jace chuckled. He was standing close enough behind her that he could feel her tense, as if she didn't know he was there. "We haven't done much talking during our short acquaintance," he said. "I'm afraid our reading habits didn't come up."

Clary turned around and shot him a glare, which he smiled at.

"How can you tell?" she asked Hodge. "That I like books, I mean."

"The look on your face when you walked in," he said, standing up and coming around from behind the desk. "Somehow I doubted that you were that impressed by _me._"

Clary gasped as he rose from his desk. Jace furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Hodge, trying to see what might have surprised her. Than he sees Hodge's raven and chuckled.

"This is Hugo," Hodge said, touching the bird on his shoulder. "Hugo is raven, and, as such, he knows many things. I, meanwhile, am Hodge Starkweather, a professor of history, and, as such, I do not know nearly enough."

Clary laughed a little, which seemed to be the last thing Jace thought she would do, and shook his outstretched hand. "Clary Fray."

"Honored to make your acquaintance," he said. "I would be honored to make the acquaintance of anyone who could kill a Ravener with her bare hands."

"It wasn't my bare hands." She seemed very uncomfortable with the subject. ""It was Jace's- well, I don't remember what it was called, but-"

"She means my Sensor," Jace said. "She shoved it down the thing's throat. The runes must have chocked it. I guess I'll need another one," he added almost as an afterthought. "I should have mentioned that."

"There are several others in the weapons room," said Hodge. He turned to smile at Clary, who had dark circles under her eyes, as if the three nights she had to sleep weren't enough. "That was quick thinking. What gave you the idea of using the Sensor as a weapon?"

Clary had opened her mouth to answer, but a sharp and familiar laugh stopped her. Jace turned around to see Alec sitting in the red armchair by the fireplace. Jace hadn't eve seen him in here, and looking at Clary and Hodge's expressions, neither did they. "I can't believe you buy that story, Hodge." he said.

Clary was staring at him in utter silence. Her expressions were changing from shocked to angry really quickly. Jace's anger also shot up in him, as he was there when she killed it.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Alec." Hodge raised an eyebrow, and Jace thought about how he would feel if Hodge sided with Alec. Why would a girl lie about something like this? Though Jace knows the truth about her abilities, he never told either of them that he marked her, and she survived. "Are you suggesting that she didn't kill the demon after all?"

"Of course she didn't. Look at her- she's a mundie, Hodge, and a little kid, at that. There's no way she took on a Ravener."

"I'm not a little kid," Clary interrupted. "I'm sixteen years old- well I will be on Sunday."

"The same age as Isabelle," Hodge said. "Would you call her a child?"

"Isabelle hails from one of the greatest Shadowhunter dynasties in history," Alec said dryly. "This girl, on the other hand, hails from New Jersey."

"I'm from Brooklyn!" Clary shouted. Jace was liking where this was going. "And so what? I just killed a demon in my own house, and you're going to be a dickhead about it because I'm not some spoiled-rotten rich brat like you and your sister?"

Alec looked astonished. "_What _did you just call me?"

Jace laughed. "She has a point, Alec," Jace said. "It's those bridge-and-tunnel demons you really have to watch out for-"

"It's not _funny, _Jace," Alec interrupted, starting to his feet. Jace thought it was plenty funny. The girl definently has a temper, and Alec is so sensitive that a nickname could bring him down. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"

"Yes," Jace said kindly. "It'll do you good- try to think of it as endurance training."

"We may be _parabatai," _Alec said tightly. "But your flippancy is wearing on my patience."

"And your obstinacy is wearing on mine. When I found her, she lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a dying demon practically on top of her. I watched it as it vanished. If she didn't kill it, who did?"

"Raveners are stupid. Maybe it go itself in the neck with its stinger. It's happened before-"

"Now you're suggesting it committed suicide?"

Alec's mouth tightened, which Jace knew meant he ran out of excuses. "It isn't right for her to be here. Mundies aren't allowed in the Institute, and there are good reasons for that. If anyone knew about this, we could be reported to the Clave."

"That's not entirely true," Hodge said. "The Law does allow us to offer sanctuary to mundanes in certain circumstances. A Ravener has already attacked Clary's mother- she could well have been next."

Clary's face was covered in horror when he mentioned her mother being attacked. He remembered what it was like to watch his father die, and felt sorry for her. But there was still hope that she was still alive, of course. And Jace was going to find out.

"Raveners are search-and-destroy machines,"Alec said. "They act under orders from warlocks or very powerful demon lords. Now, what interest would a warlock or demon lord have in an ordinary human household?" He looked at Clary as if she hadn't taken a shower in a month. "Any thoughts?"

Clary said,"It must have been a mistake."

"Demons don't make those kind of mistakes. If they went after your mother, there must have been a reason. If she were innocent-"

"What do you mean, 'innocent'?" Clary spoke in a quiet voice, which sounded painfully hurt.

Alec looked taken aback. "I-"

"What he means," said Hodge, "is that it is extremely unusual for a powerful demon, the kind who might command a host of lesser demons, to interest himself in the affairs of human beings. No mundane may summon a demon- they lack that power- but there have been some, desperate and foolish, who have found a witch or warlock to do it for them."

"My mother doesn't know any warlocks. She doesn't believe in magic." Her eyes lit up. "Madame Dorthea- she lives downstairs- she' a witch. Maybe the demons were after her and got my mom by mistake?"

Hodge's eyebrow's hot up to his hairline. "A witch lives downstairs from you?"

"She's a hedge-witch- a fake," Jace said. "I already looked into it. There's no reason for any warlock to be interested in her unless he's in the market for nonfunctional crystal balls."_  
_

"And we're back to where we began." Hodge stroked Hugo on his shoulder. "It seems the time has come to notify the Clave."

Jace was infuriated. "No!" he said. "We can't-"

"It made sense to keep Clary's presence a secret while we were not sure she would recover," Hodge said. "But now she has, and she is the first mundane to pass through the doors of the Institute in over a hundred years. You know the rules about mundane knowledge of Shadowhunters, Jace. The Clave must be informed."

"Absolutely," Alec agreed. "I could get a message to my father-"

"She's not a mundane." Jace said quietly.

Hodge's eyebrow's shot up to his hairline, as Alec choked on his words in surprise. Clary's expression was just simply confused. "But I am." she said.

"No," said Jace. "You aren't." He turned to Hodge and swallowed hard. He knew he would get in trouble for this. "That night- there were Du'sien demons, dressed like police officers. We had to get past them. Clary was too weak to run, and there wasn't any time to hide- she would have died. So I used my stele- put a _mendelin_ rune on the inside of her arm. I thought-"

"Are you out of your _mind_?" Hodge slammed his hand down so hard on top of the desk so hard that it made Jace flinch. "You know what the Law says about placing Marks on mundanes! You- you of all people ought to know better!"

"But it worked," Jace turned to look at Clary hesitantly and said, "Clary, show them your arm."

She looked at him, baffled expression on her face, and held out her bare arm. Jace saw the three overlapping circles, faded, about to disappear. "See, it's almost gone," Jace said. "It didn't hurt her at all."

That's not the point." Hodge was quivering, obviously having trouble controlling his anger. "You could have turned her into Forsaken."

Alec's face was bright red with fury. "I can't believe you, Jace. Only Shadowhunters can receive Covenant Marks- they _kill_ mundanes-"

"She's not a mundane. Haven't you been listening? It explains why she could see us. She must have Clave blood."

Clary lowered her arm and shivered. "But I couldn't."

"You must," Jace said, avoiding looking at her. "If you didn't that Mark I made on your arm..."

"That's enough, Jace," Hodge said, clearly unhappy. "There's no need to frighten her further."

"But I was right, wasn't I? It explains what happened to her mother, too. If she were a Shadowhunter in exile, she might well have Downworld enemies."

"My mother wasn't a Shadowhunter!"

Jace rolled his eyes slightly. "Your father, then." he said. "What about him?"

Clary stared at him flatly. "He died. Before I was born."

Jace flinched. He guessed he shouldn't really say anything else about that. Alec spoke up for him. "It' possible," he said, sounding uncertain. "If her father were a Shadowhunter, and her mother a mundane- well, we all know it's against the Law to marry a mundie. Maybe they were in hiding."

"My mother would have told me," Clary said, thought she sounded like she didn't believe herself.

"Not necessarily," said Jace. "We all have secrets."

"Luke," Clary said. "Our friend. He would know." A look of pain shot across her face. "It's been three days- he must be frantic. Can I call him? Is there a phone?" She turned to look at Jace. "Please?"

Jace, who remembered that she smashed her phone, hesitated. What if she tells him too much? What if she tells him where they are, the address? Of course, he couldn't get in without a Shadowhunter, but, who says he isn't with one? If he is friends with Clary' mother, he might know a few. He looked at Hodge, who nodded in approval. He moved away from the desk, revealing the phone that looked like a globe. She dialed a number and put the phone to her ear.

He heard a muffled "Hello?"

"Luke!" She looked so relieved to have him on the phone. "It's me. It's Clary."

She was smiling when he replied.

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't call you before. Luke, my mom- then you haven't heard from her"

She sounded disappointed.

"What did the police say?"

Jace heard a muffled "Where are you?" and panicked. But, he could trust her, right? She seemed trustworthy, but he didn't know her. She could have lied to all of their faces earlier about everything.

"In the city-I don't know where exactly. With some friends." Jace sighed in relief. "My wallet's gone, though. If you've got some cash, I could take a cab to your place-"

She dropped the phone but caught it, instantly. "What?... We could call-"

She listened for a while, tears were starting to form, but she wiped her eyes.

"But I don't want t stay here." She started to whine, like a child. "I don't know these people. You-" She stopped, listened, and slammed the phone down hard, after trying to dial again.

"I take it he wasn't so happy to hear from you?" Clary was trying not to cry, he could see that much, and what he said probably didn't help. He can't help keeping sarcasm out of a conversation for too long.

"I think I'd like to have a talk with Clary," said Hodge. "Alone," he added looking at Jace.

Alec stood up. "Fine. We'll leave you to it."

"That's hardly fair," Jace objected. "I'm the one who found her. I'm the one who saved her life! You want me here, don't you?" He said, looking at Clary.

She gave him almost an apologetic look, but said nothing. Jace felt his stomach tighten.

Alec laughed. "Not everyone wants you all the time, Jace." he said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jace said, trying to hide the disappointment. "Fine, then. We'll be in the weapons room." They walked out of the room in silence

"Jace, don't think I don't trust you, okay? It's her I don't trust." Alec said in his always caring (well, always caring around him) voice.

"I don't have anything to say to you right now." and Jace stepped in front of Alec and headed for the weapons room.


	6. Chapter 6: Forsaken

**Hey guys! I am excited to be writing again and I hope you guys like it!**

**CHAPTER 6: FORSAKEN**

When Jace got in the weapons room, he stood there alone for a while. He couldn't believe his best friend's behavior. Alec was an interesting person. He had his moments when everyone wanted to be around him. He was a friendly guy, but when it came down to it, he's very opinionated, which is a good thing. But sometimes it gets out of hand.

Like it did today. Alec can't stand meeting new people. He feels that nobody can understand him within their first meeting. And he was most certainly right about that. Even today Jace still get confused about his blood-brother. Alec would never do anything to purposely offend Jace, but Jace was also hard to read.

He started to walk over to the stand with the Sensors on it. The sensor was a unique object that can determine if there is a demon anywhere near it. There are runes on the buttons, which is what killed the Ravener demon. He picked one up and examined it. You never know if something could be wrong with a weapon or invention in the weapons room. Church has proven himself guilty many times of jumping on the stands and shelves and knocking things over, so it's always good to be careful of what you pick up. Luckily this one was unscratched.

Alec stepped into the room with and awkward look on his face. "Found one, I see."

Jace turned to look at his friend. "Yeah. I can't help but wonder how whoever created such a thing had the time. If he were a Shadowhunter, which I would assume he was, I would most certainly not have the patience."

Alec chuckled. "Well, some people just aren't as exciting as we are, brother."

Jace smiled and headed to the seraph blades. Alec followed behind him. "What are you doing?"

"We need to prepare some of these. If Clary stays with us, who knows what will come after her." Jace said, surprising himself with his concern.

"About that, you know I'm sorry for my behavior, but she is not someone you _should _trust. Don't make a friendship that could end up hurting us." He said it as if Jace would forget about him. Something was up... jealousy?

"Don't worry, Alec. I am definently capable of fending for myself," Jace laughed to himself.

"What? What are you laughing at?"

"I still can't believe she called you a spoiled rich brat! And your face- priceless!"

"Can I see that blade? I think I know just who to use it on right now." Alec said, cheeks red.

"Ha! Well, I'm going to fix these up, help if you'd like." Jace said, smiling at his parabatai.

The door opened and Clary walked in, observing the weapons room. It is very... well exactly what a weapons room sounds like. Not nearly as impressive as the library, but Jace loved it in here. It reminded him of all the things his father taught him, gave him.

"Where's Hodge?" He said as she snapped her attention to them.

"Writing to the Silent Brothers."

"Ugh." remarked Alec. The Silent Brothers gave them all the creeps. His eyes were gazing at Clary in a hated expression.

She walked over to the table slowly, looking at Alec, and flinched. She shot Jace a gaze, and kept walking toward them. "What are you doing?"

"Putting the last touches on these." Jace stepped aside so she could examine the blades. He named the aloud. "Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf."

"Those don't look like knifes. How did you make them? Magic?"

Alec scoffed and Jace rolled his eyes. "The funny thing about mundies," Jace said, to nobody in particular. "is how obsessed with magic they are for a bunch of people who don't even know what the word means."

"I know what it means," She snapped.

"No, you don't, you just think you do. Magic is a dark and elemental force, not just a lot of sparkly wands and crystal balls and talking goldfish."

"I never said it was a lot of talking goldfish, you-"

Jace waved a hand, cutting her off, though he finds it funny when she tries to talk back, which is odd. Nobody talked back to Jace, though for some reason, he can tolerate her better than anyone else. "Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."

"You're driveling," Clary observed, tilting her head as if she was trying to see something from a different angle.

"I'm not," Jace said, playfully, but with great dignity.

"Yes, you are," Alec suddenly spoke up. Jace forgot Alec was even here. "Look, we don't do magic, okay?" he added, avoiding Clary's eyes. "That's all you need to know about it."

Clary looked taken aback for a moment, and then seemed to forget about Alec's temper. She turned to Jace. "Hodge said I can go home."

Jace almost dropped the seraph blade in shock. Does Hodge know How dangerous this is? "_He said what?_"

"To look through my mother's things," she added. "If you go with me."

"Jace," Alec said, sounding restless. Jace ignored him, because he was just going to go on and on about how dangerous that could be and how she shouldn't be aloud, and all that.

"If you really want to prove that my mom or dad was a Shadowhunter, we should look through my mom's things. What's left of them."

"Down the rabbit hole." Jace grinned and agreed. "Good idea. If we go right now, we should have another three, four hours of daylight."

"Do you want me to come with you?" He heard Alec say, in a hopeful voice.

Without turning around, Jace said, "No. That's all right. Clary and I can handle this on our own."

Jace led down the hall, as Clary was behind him, who seemed to be jogging to catch up with him due to her short legs. "Have you got your house keys?"

She looked down at her shoes, which had her keys tied around the laces, which made Jace laugh. Isabelle would _not_ approve. "Yeah."

"Good. Not that we couldn't break in, but we'd run a greater chance of disturbing any wards that might be up if we did."

"If you say so." She said, sounding bored and doubtful. When they got to the elevator, Jace pushed the button next to the huge metal gate for the elevator to go down. "Jace?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know I had Shadowhunter blood? Was there some way you could tell?"

The elevator came and they walked in slowly. He had been fearing for when she would ask this question. She would find it horrendous. "I guessed," he said, a guilty feeling rose in his stomach. "It seemed like the most likely explanation."

"You guessed? You must have been pretty sure, considering you could have killed me."

He pressed the button and the elevator lurched. He tried to find the words he was looking for. "I was ninety percent sure." Those were not the words he was looking for._  
_

"I see," Clary said.

Something in her voice made him look at her. When he was about to apologize, her hand cracked hard against his face. The slap rocked him back onto his heels in shock. He put his hand up to his cheek. "What the hell was that for?"

"The other ten percent," she said as they rode the rest of the ride in silence.

Jace spent the train ride wrapped in an angry silence. He wasn't angry with _her._ He was just thinking, maybe she was right. He risked her life just to get a quick escape. He probably could have found another way to get away, but on such short notice without planning, it seemed to be their only option.

His cheek stung, but he could care less about that. He felt Clary's gaze, heavy weight, forcing him to look up at her. He cocked an eyebrow up. "Can I help you with something?" He said amusing himself.

Clary looked across the train over to two girls who were giggling and staring. "Those girls on the other side of the car are staring at you." She said in a disgusted voice. He couldn't tell why, but that bothered him.

But he smiled, and said, "Of course they are, I am stunningly attractive."

"Haven't you heard that modesty is an attractive trait?"

"Only from ugly people," Which isn't true at all. Clary was quite beautiful herself, with her red hair flowing every time she moved her head, curls bouncing. And her green eyes shining, which brought all the attention to her face full of small freckles. "The meek may inherit the earth, but at the moment it belongs to the conceited. Like me." He winked at the girls, and felt Clary flinch beside him, then sigh.

"How come they can see you?"

"Glamours are a pain to use. Sometimes we don't bother."

He was instantly in a better mood knowing that his conceited attitude bugged her. It made her easier to tease. When they left the station, they headed for Clary's apartment. He took his seraph blade out and started flipping it around his fingers and humming awkward tunes.

"Do you have to do that?" Clary asked. "It's annoying."

So he hummed louder, just to get on her nerves.

"I'm sorry I smacked you," she said in a quiet voice.

He stopped humming, not expecting her to apologize. "Just be glad you hit me and not Alec. He would have hit you back."

"he seems to be itching for the chance," she said kicking a soda can on the ground, trying to hide her dislike for Alec. "What is it Alec called you? Para-something?"

_"Parabatai,"_ said Jace. "It means a pair of warriors who fight together- who are closer than brothers. Alec is more than just my best friend. My father and his father were parabatai when they were young. His father was my godfather- that's why I live with them. They're my adopted family."

"But your last name isn't Lightwood."

Jace hesitated, wanted so badly to avoid the subject. "No," and thank the Angel they got to her house before he explained more about his past. The last thing he wanted was sympathy.

The house did not have any signs of destruction, that Jace could tell. "It looks the same," Clary said.

"On the outside." Jace puled out his Sensor.

"So that's a Sensor? What does it do?" she asked.

"It picks up frequencies, like a radio does, but these frequencies are demonic in origin."

"Demon shortwave?"

"Something like that." As they walked up the stairs, the Sensor made a clicking sound, which indicated small demonic activity. But this didn't seem serious. "It's picking up trace activity, but that could just be left over from that night. I'm not getting anything strong enough for there to be demons present now."

Clary was shaking, but she breathed a relieved breath. "Good." She bent to her shoes and grabbed her keys. Jace saw scratches on the door, that came from the Ravener's long, sharp claws.

Jace reached out and touched her arm. "I'll go first," he said. It took her a second to act on it, but she moved out of the way to let him pass. He turned the door and went in. The hall was very dim. The light bulb was out. Jace saw something on the banister. He wiped his hand across it and it came away blackish-red. "Blood."

"Maybe it's mine." Clary's voice was small, but he could hear her. "From the other night."

"It'd be dry by now if it were," Jace said. "Come on."

They headed upstairs. It was dark and hard to see anything. He didn't want to turn any lights on, because he didn't want to draw any attention to anything that might be here. Jace didn't think there was anything, considering his Sensor wasn't acting up, but just to be sure. Clary was fumbling with her keys, trying to slide it into the door and finally made it after three tries. "Don't breathe down my neck," she said impatiently. He didn't realize he was, he was just anxious to get in there.

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. "I'll go first." He said again. The apartment was cold, it felt dead. Jace walked slowly down a short hallway leading to the living room, Clary right behind him. It was completely empty, as if they hadn't even lived there. There was nothing on the walls, no furniture, no curtains. There were lighter squares of paint on the walls, which had once held pictures or paintings, he guessed. Clary started to walk toward the kitchen, and Jace followed. The kitchen was just as empty, no fridge, chairs, tables. The cabinets were wide open, with no food or plates or anything inside of them.

"What would demons," Clary said, in utter astonishment. "want with our microwave?"

Jace shook his head, and smiled at the thought of a demon using a microwave. "I don't know, but I'm not sensing any demonic presents right now. I'd say they're long gone." He started to feel annoyed, like he'd wasted his day. There was obviously nothing here. He couldn't help but wonder what Clary was expecting find, or if she just wanted to come back.

"Are you satisfied?" Jace asked her. "There's nothing here."

She shook her head, and looked as if she were about to cry, but held herself so she wouldn't. "I want to see my room."

_Why would a demon leave your room alone?_ He was about to say, but thought better of it. "If that's what it takes," he said as he slid his blade into his pocket.

The hallway was dark and Clary was leading the way, slowly but surely. She reached for the door knob, and Jace sensed something. Not with his Sensor, but he could feel that something was wrong. He shot Clary a warning look, hoping she'd move away, or get closer to him. But she turned the knob, which seemed to be stuck. Then all of a sudden, the door blew outward knocking Clary against the wall, rolling onto her stomach.

Jace was flat against the wall, staring in total shock. He fumbled through his pocket to find his blade. And there he saw it. A huge, enormous man, with huge dead-white hands which was holding a broad-bladed axe. He wore rags that used to be clothes and he was covered in dirt. Otherwise known as Forsaken.

Jace held up his seraph blade, and called out its name. "Sansanvi!"

The blade attacked, slashing the Forsaken, who staggered backward.

Jace whirled around to find Clary. he found her lying down, bleeding, but not as bad as she was the other night. He grabbed her forearm, pulled her to her feet, and pushed her in front of him down the hall. _She has to stay safe,_ he thought, _this is the third near-death experience she's been in. I will keep her safe._ She stopped at the stairs. He glanced at her. "Oh by the Angel," he said too quiet for her to hear. "Get downstairs! Get out of the-"_  
_

Another blow came and almost knocked him off his feet, but he was too quick. He was on the top stair now, the blade shining brightly, so that it was pretty much the only light here. "Clary! Move over to the-" but the forsaken threw his axe straight at him. He ducked and the axe went into the banister.

Jace laughed. There is nothing like the high of the fight. You get addicted to the power you have if you are winning, which, in most cases, he always is. He never says he's losing until he's lost. The laugh enraged the creature, and hurled toward Jace with his enormous fists raised. He took out his seraph blade and hit the things shoulder, which caused him to sway for a moment. And then he started to lean forward. Jace moved aside, but wasn't fast enough this time. The Forsaken fell, grabbing onto Jace and bringing him under him. Jace cried out in excruciating pain. He wanted to scream again, but lost the ability to. And suddenly, it was quiet.

"Jace?" He heard her voice. Faint and almost not even there. He opened his eyes and looked at her. A flash of beautiful green was shining in front of him.

"Is it dead?" he asked her.

"Almost," Clary said grimly.

"Hell." he couldn't bare the pain. His legs were under the giant. "My legs-"

"Hold still." She said, sounding way more calm in this situation than he ever thought anyone brought up in a mundane world was capable of. She slipped her hands under his arms and pulled. Jace groaned as the fiery pain started to move up his body. She slipped his legs out from under the Forsaken and let go. The creature was spasming, which was normal. His arm was in pain too, but he only just noticed it. He struggled to his feet and so did she. "Is your arm all right?"

"No. Broken," he said. "Can you reach into my pocket?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Which one?"

"Inside jacket, right side. Take out one of the seraph blades and hand it to me." He held still as she slowly reached into his pocket. Her hand was shaking, and being this close to her made him shiver. Her hair tickled his shoulder. She pulled the blade out and handed it to him, but avoided his eyes. "Thanks," he said. He took it and named it. "Sanvi." He said quietly. "Don't watch." he said, going over to the Forsaken. He shot the blade down into the things throat. Blood went everywhere. Jace made a low grunt in his throat from disgust. He saw the fear in Clary's eyes. "I told you not to watch,"

"I thought it would disappear," she said. "Back to its own dimension- you said." she was half whining.

"I said that's what happens to demons when they die," he pulled his jacket off and winced at the pain in his arm. "That wasn't a demon." He drew his stele out of his belt with his good hand, and caught her confused stare. "This," he said. "Is a stele." He touched it to the iratze on his shoulder, which looks like a star that is not yet connected. "And this," he said, "is what happens when Shadowhunters are wounded."

With the tip of his stele, he connected the two lines and completed the star-shaped iratze. It sank into his skin, so that it looked more like a scar than a tattoo. He moved his arm slowly, just to make sure the iratze worked, and brought it down with no pain at all.

"That's amazing," Clary said. "How did you-?"

"That was an iratze- a healing rune," Jace said. "Finishing the rune with the stele activates it." He put the stele away and put his jacket back on, hiding a glance back at Clary. He tapped the Forsaken with his foot. "We're going to have to report this to Hodge," he said. "He'll freak out," he said with a tone of amusement.

"Why will he freak?" Clary said. "And I get that that thing wasn't a demon- that's why the Sensor didn't register it, right?"

Jace nodded. He can't believe that what he did to Clary could've turned her into- that thing. "You see those scars all over its face?"

"Yes."

"Those were made with a stele. Like this one." he tapped it in his belt. "You asked me what happens when you carve Marks onto someone who doesn't have Shadowhunter blood. Just one Mark will only burn you, but a lot of Marks, powerful ones? Carved into the flesh of a totally ordinary human being with no trace of human ancestry? You get this." He jerked his chin down at the corpse. "The runes are agonizingly painful. The Marked ones go insane- the pain drives them out of their minds. They become fierce, mindless killers. They don't sleep or eat unless you make them, and they die, usually quickly. Runes have great power and can be used to do great good- but they can be used for evil. The Forsaken are evil."

Clary stared at him in horror. "But why would anyone do that to themselves?"

"Nobody would. It's something that gets done to them. By a warlock, maybe, some Downworlder gone bad. The Forsaken are loyal to the one who Marked them, and they're fierce killers. They can obey simple commands, too. It's like having a- a slave army." He stepped over the dead Forsaken and looked at her. Her hair was fiery against her fair skin. "I'm going back upstairs."

"But there's nothing there."

"There might be more of them," he said, kind of excited for more battle. "You should wait here." He started to run up the stairs.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a voice that sounded like an old lady. "There are more of them where the first one came from."

Jace spun around and stared. How on earth could anyone else have come in here? Why?

"Madame Dorothea?"

Oh, the hedge-witch.

She stood in the doorway of the apartment, dressed in old-lady clothes. She wore her long hair in a bun at the top of her head. He recognized her from the lobby when he came to get Clary before. He noticed something strange about her then, but now he knows something's up.

Jace was flabbergasted. "But..."

"More _what?"_ Clary said.

"More Forsaken," replied the women with a cheery tone, which confused Jace even more. "You have made a mess, haven't you? I'm sure you weren't planning on cleaning up either. Typical."

"But you're a _mundane_," Jace finally got out.

"So observant," said Dorthea. "The Clave really broke the mold with you."

Those were not the right words to choose, old lady. "You know about the Clave?" he demanded. "You knew about them, and you knew there were Forsaken in this house, and you didn't notify them? Just the existence of Forsaken is a crime against the Covenant-"

"Neither Clave nor Covenant have ever done anything for me," said the old lady, a dark thick accent new to her voice.

"Jace, stop it." Clary said. He listened. "If you knew about the Clave and the Forsaken," she said. "then maybe you know about what happened to my mother?"

She shook her head, long earrings swinging. "My advice to you," she said. "is to forget about your mother. She's gone."

Clary's face got very pale. Jace wanted so badly to go over there and comfort her, but thought that was a bad idea. "You mean she's dead?"

"No." Dorthea said, reluctantly. "I'm sure she's still alive. For now." Jace went over and touched Clary's elbow, trying to comfort her. He knew how it felt. Her skin was cool against his skin. She barely seemed to notice.

"Then I have to find her. You understand? I have to find her before-"

The old women held up her hand. "I don't want to involve myself in Shadowhunter business."

"But you knew my mother. She was your neighbor-"

"This is an official Clave investigation." Jace cut her off, taking his hand off her elbow. "I can always come back with the Silent Brothers."

"Oh for the-" That got to her. "I suppose you might as well come in," she said. "I'll tell you what I can." She started for the door, but stopped to look at Jace. "But if you tell anyone I helped you, Shadowhunter, you'll wake up tomorrow with snakes for hair and an extra pair of arms."

"That might be nice, an extra pair of arms," Jace said. "Handy in a fight."

"Not if they're growing out of your..." She paused and smiled up at him, and he tensed. "Neck."

"Yikes," Jace said.

"Yikes is right, Jace Wayland." She marched into her apartment, leaving Jace astonished.

Clary looked at Jace. "Wayland?"

"It's my name," he said, suddenly wanting to go back to the Institute. "I can't say I like that she knows it."

Clary glanced after Dorthea, but Jace did not trust her. He was not wanting to go in there, but he knew he had to. "Still, I think we might as well try talking to her. What have we got to lose?"

"Once you've spent a bit more time in our world," Jace said. "you won't ask me that again."


	7. Chapter 7: The Five-Dimensional Door

**Hey you guys! Here's another chapter! I'm sorry these are kinda long, I'm just trying to stay with the book. I hope you enjoy!**

CHAPTER 7: THE FIVE DIMENSIONAL DOOR

The old women's apartment looked similar to Clary's, he noticed. Well, the layout anyway. It was decorated with bead curtains and crystal balls and all the weirdness you did _not_ expect from an old helpless lady.

She had books about witchcraft on the bookshelves, which Clary ran her hand over, slowly.

Dorothea poked her head through a beaded curtain and made Clary jump. Jace smiled to himself. "Interested in chiromancy?" she said, eying Clary. "Or just nosy?"

"Neither," Clary said. "Can you really tell fortunes?"

"My mother had a great talent. She could see a man's future in his hand or the leaves at the bottom of his teacup. She taught me some of her tricks." She said, giving Jace a nasty stare. Funny, usually he has a different affect on women. Suddenly, as if on cue, she turned polite. "Speaking of tea, young man, would you like some?"

"What?" Jace was caught off guard by her politeness.

"Tea. I find it both settles the stomach and concentrates the mind. Wonderful drink, tea."

"I'll have tea," Clary said immediately.

Jace decided to join her. "All right. As long as it isn't Earl Gray," he added, wrinkling his nose. "I hate bergamot."

The woman laughed very loudly and went to make the tea.

Clary raised both her eyebrows at Jace. "You hate bergamot?"

Jace was looking at the books Dorothea had on the bookshelves. "You got a problem with that?"

"You may be the only guy my age I've ever met who knows what bergamot is, much less that it's in Earl Gray tea."

"Yes, well," Jace turned to face her. "I'm not like other guys." He said with a smirk. He'd used that so many times on girls without ever need to worry about them listening. They always just stared. If he were trying to get Clary, though, she probably would have hit him... again. "Besides, at the Institute, we have to take classes in basic medicinal uses for plants. It's required."

"I figured all your classes were were stuff like Slaughter 101 and Beheading for Beginners."

Jace flipped a page and laughed, inside, at her comment. "Very funny, Fray."

She whirled around. "Don't call me that."

Jace glanced up, surprised. "Why not? It's your last name, isn't it?"

Her eyes went dark and she looked a million miles away. "No reason."

"I see," And he did. This must have something to do with that mundane boy of hers. He turned around and dropped the book down, changing the subject. "This must be the trash she keeps up front to impress credible mundanes," he said, not very impressed himself. "There's not one serious text in here."

"Just because it's not the kind of magic you do-" she started, but his scowl seemed to stop her. He was not like a filthy Downworlder.

"I _do not do magic,"_ he said. "Get it through your head: Human beings are not magic users. It's part of what makes them human. Witches and warlocks can only use magic because they have demon blood."

Clary looked as if she didn't believe him. "But I've seen you do magic. You use enchanted weapons-"

"I use tools that are magical. And just to be able to do that, I have to undergo rigorous training. The rune tattoos on my skin protect me too. If you tried to use one of the seraph blades, for instance, it'd probably burn your skin, maybe kill you."

"What if I got the tattoos?" Clary asked. "Could I use them then?"

_No, she's not ready._ "No," he said crossly. "The Marks are only part of it. There are tests, ordeals, levels of training- look, just forget it, okay? Stay away from my blades. In fact, don't touch any of my weapons without my permission." he said, getting way too angry.

"Well, there goes my plan for selling them on eBay," she muttered. He didn't get it.

"Selling them on _what?_" he said, confused.

Clary smiled a big smile, as if it were something Jace certainly was supposed to know. But he didn't mind. This is the first real smile he'd seen of hers. It was the most beautiful thing he's seen, besides her eyes. "A mythical place of great magical power."

Jace shrugged confused. "Most myths are true, at least in part." he said.

"I'm starting to get that."

Dorothea walked in and said, "Tea's on the table. There's no need for you two to keep standing there like donkeys. Come into the parlor."

"There's a parlor?" Clary asked.

"Of course there's a parlor," said Dorothea. "Where else would I entertain?"

"I'll just leave my hat with the footman," said Jace.

Dorothea's whole face changed when she turned to look at him. "If you were half as funny as you thought you were, my boy, you'd be twice as funny as you are." She went out to the parlor and made a "Hmph!" sound while leaving. Odd how she's so generous to Clary, but treats him like dirt.

Jace frowned at her comment. "I'm not quite sure what she meant by that."

"Really," Clary said, sounding sarcastic. "It makes perfect sense to me." She followed Dorothea through the beaded curtains. He did the same.

* * *

Jace took a seat next to Clary in the pink armchairs that were set up. He didn't pay much attention to the room because all he saw were bright colors, and that gave him a headache. Dorothea had set up on the table three teacups, a big blue teapot and a plate full of little sandwiches. It was quite impressive considering her personality was dark in his opinion, but that was probably because she could not stand him.

"Wow," Clary said, soft enough to sound weak. "This looks great."

Jace slid the plate of sandwiches over to him and examined them. They didn't look poisonous, but just to be sure. Dorothea smiled at Clary, returned her smile. "Have some tea," she said, taking advantage of the pot. "Milk? Sugar?"

Jace could feel the weight of Clary's stare. He silently begged her to stop looking. It made him feel weak. "Sugar," she finally said, looking away from him, weight off his shoulders.

Jace shrugged, not really wanting any tea. He picked up one of the sandwiches and bit into it, finding himself a little hungry. Gross. He caught Clary's stare this time, shrugging in response. "Cucumber."

"I always think cucumber sandwiches are just the thing for tea, don't you?" The old lady said, to no one in particular.

"I hate cucumber," Jace said and gave the rest of his sandwich to Clary, who hasn't eaten in three days. She took possession of the plate.

"Cucumber and bergamot," Clary said when she finished chewing. "Is there anything else you hate that I ought to know about?"

Jace sneaked a look at Dorothea over his teacup. "Liars," he said simply.

"You can call me a liar all you like," the old women said, setting her teacup down gently. "It's true, I'm not a witch. But my mother was."

Jace started to choke on his tea. "That's impossible."

"Why impossible?" Clary wondered, her voice full of curiosity.

Jace got ready for another long lesson for the mundane-raised Shadowhunter. He took a deep breath. "Because they're half human, half demon. All witches and warlocks are crossbreeds, they can't have children. They're sterile."

"Like mules," she said looking proud of herself. "Mules are sterile crossbreeds."

Jace smiled, impressed. "Your knowledge of livestock is astounding." he said. "All Downworlders are in some part demon, but only warlocks are the children of demon parents. It's why their powers are the strongest."

"Vampires and werewolves- they're part demon, too? And faeries?"

"Vampires and werewolves are the result of diseases brought from demons from their home dimensions. Most demon diseases are deadly to humans, but in these cases they worked strange cases on the infected, without actually killing them. And faeries-"

"Faeries are fallen angels," said Dorothea. Wow, she actually cut him off. Nice, old lady. "cast down out of heaven for their pride."

"That's the legend," Jace said. "It's also said that they're the offspring of demons and angels, which always seemed more likely to me. Good and evil, mixing together. Faeries are as beautiful as angels are supposed to be, but they have a lot of mischief and cruelty in them. And you'll notice most of them avoid midday sunlight-"

"For the devil has no power," said Dorothea in a creepy soft voice. "except in the dark."

Jace scowled at her. Seriously? Again? Clary spoke, "Supposed to be? You mean angels don't-"

"Enough about angels," Dorothea said, rudely. "It's true that warlocks can't have children. My mother adopted me because she wanted to make sure there'd be someone to attend this place after she was gone. I did't have to master magic myself. I only have to watch and guard."

"Guard what?" Clary asked with determination, as if this had something to do with her mother, and who's to say it doesn't?

"What indeed?" The old woman winked, like they're supposed to know the answer. She reached for the sandwich plate, which was empty. Dorothea chuckled and so did Jace. "It's good to see a young woman eat her fill. In my day, girls were robust, strapping creatures, not twigs like they are nowadays."

"Thanks," Clary said, looking red and setting her teacup down with a clatter.

The old woman grabbed the cup instantly and as entertained as a child with their favorite toy. Or, in Jace's case, with his favorite knife.

"What?" Clary asked nervously. "Did I crack the cup or something?"

"She's reading your tea leaves," Jace leaned forward, wanting to know what it says, but also found it ridiculous. Dorothea's face was in a scowl.

"Is it bad?" Clary asked.

"It is neither bad nor good. It is confusing." she looked at Jace. "Give me your cup."

Jace was appalled at her rudeness. "But I'm not done with my-"

She snatched it out of his hand and splashed the tea back into the pot. She looked up at him. "I see violence in your future, a great deal of blood shed by you and others. You'll fall in love with the wrong person. Also, you have an enemy."

"Only one? That's good news." Jace leaned back in his chair. Now, falling in love with the wrong person, well, not so good. violence and blood, he could deal with that.

She picked up Clary's cup again, and shook her head. "There is nothing for me to read here. The images are jumbled, meaningless." She glanced at Clary. "Is there a block in your mind?"

Clary cocked her head to the side, a questioned look on her face. "A what?"

"Like a spell that might conceal a memory, or might have blocked out your Sight?"

She shook her head. "No, of course not."

Jace leaned forward, suddenly interested. "Don't be so hasty," he said. "It's that she claims not to remember having the Sight before this week. Maybe-"

"Maybe I'm just a late developer," she snapped. "And don't _leer_ at me just because I said that."

"I wasn't going to."

"You were working up to a leer, I could tell."

"Maybe," he smirked. "but that doesn't mean I'm not right. Something's blocking your memories, I'm almost sure of it."

"Very well, let's try something else." Dorothea put the cup down, and reached for a deck of beautifully painted cards. She fanned them and handed them out to Clary. "Slide your hand over these until you feel one that feels hot or cold, or seems to cling to your fingers. Then draw one and show it to me."

Clary did what she was told and slowly reached her hand over the cards, slowly, with her hand shaking. She stopped and drew a card.

"The Ace of Cups," Dorothea said, amazed. "The love card."

Clary turned the card over. Jace studied they way her small hands fit the card. She was shaking, and Jace could tell something was wrong. "This is a good card, right?"

"Not necessarily. The most terrible things men do, they do in the name of love," she said and turned her inner therapist on by saying, "But it is a powerful card. What does it mean to you?"

Clary answered instantly, and now Jace knows why she looked at the card the way she did. "That my mother painted it," she dropped it onto the table. "She did, didn't she?"

Dorothea nodded, looking proud. "She painted the whole pack. A gift for me."

"So you say," Jace said, suspicious. "How well did you know Clary's mother?"

Clary gave him a warning look. "Jace, you don't have to-"

But the old women answered. "Jocelyn knew what I was, and I knew what she was. We didn't talk about it much. Sometimes she did favors for me- like painting this pack of cards- and in return I'd tell her the occasional piece of Downworld gossip. There was a name she asked me to keep an ear out for, and I did."

Jace had a million different names turning in his head, but he knew what it was. "What name was that?" He asked anyway.

"Valentine."

Clary sat upright in her chair, obviously horrified. "But thats-"

Jace cut her off. "And when you say you knew what Jocelyn was, what do you mean? What was she?" Jace asked, again knowing the answer.

"Jocelyn was what she was," she said, making Jace roll his eyes. "But in her past she'd been like you. A Shadowhunter. One of the Clave."

"No," Clary whispered. Well, what did she expect? If she was a Shadowhunter than someone had to pass the genes.

Dorothea looked at her kindly. "It's true. She chose to live in this house precisely because-"

"Because this is a Sanctuary." Jace said, just now realizing. "Isn't it? Your mother was a Control. She made this space, hidden, protected- it's a perfect spot for Downworlders on the run to hide out. That's what you do, isn't it? You hide criminals here."

"You _would_ call them that," Dorothea said, in the most disgusting voice she could have possibly made. "You're familiar with the motto of the Covenant?"

"_Sed lex dura lex," _said Jace out of habit. "The Law is hard, but it is the Law."

"Sometimes the Law is too hard. I know the Clave would have taken me away from my mother if they could. You want me to let them do the same to others?"

"So you're a philanthropist." Jace said, trying to piss her off. "I suppose you expect me to believe that Downworlders don't pay you handsomely for the privilege of your Sanctuary?"

She surprised him with a flattering, but offensive answer. "We can't all get by on our looks like you."

Jace changed positions awkwardly. "I should tell the Clave about you-"

"You can't!" Clary yelled, standing up in front of him now. "You promised."

"I never promised anything." Jace said avoiding her eyes, and feeling guilty, but not guilty enough. He walked over to the velvet patch on the door that caught his eye as she was speaking. "You want to tell me what this is?"

"It's a door, Jace," Clary said, in that same_ you're crazy _voice from Pandemonium. And it did look like a door, but at the same time, anyone with experience would know it's not. _  
_

He looked at her. "Shut up," he said, angrily pointing his index finger at her. "It's a Portal. Isn't it?"

"It's a five-dimensional door," Dorothea said, putting down her cards. "Dimensions aren't all straight lines, you know," she added. looking at Clary. "There are dips and folds and nooks and crannies all tucked away. It's a bit hard to explain when you've never studied dimensional theory, but, in essence, that door can take you anywhere in this dimension that you want to go. It's-"

"An escape hatch," Jace said. "That's why your mother wanted to live here. So she could always flee at a moment's notice."

"Then why didn't she-" She broke off, her face blank. "Because of me," she said. "She wouldn't leave without me that night. So she stayed."

Jace saw tears run down her cheek. "You can't blame yourself." He ached to pull her into a hug, but he knew she would just push him away.

Clary pushed past Jace to the door. "I want to see where she would've gone," she said her hand on the knob. "I want to see where she was going to escape to-"

"Clary, no!" Jace reached to pull her back, but it was too late. Clary fell through to who knows where, and before he knew it, he was falling after her.


	8. Chapter 8: Weapon of choice

**I am so sorry I haven't updated in weeks! I have been crazy busy with school and I have been sick. Now I am bored so I might as well finally update!**

CHAPTER 8: WEAPON OF CHOICE

The world was spinning around him. He see's colors swirl all around him. Green from trees, blue from the sky, a dash of red, brown from-

A dash of red.

As he is falling, he lines his body in a straight form, as if he were flying. This way he could have more control of where he was headed. He was trying to see if he could increase his speed, so he would get to the ground before Clary and possibly catch her, considering she is probably freaking out right now and there is a chance she will land on something and break her bones. But before this brilliant plan came into action,

He landed on top of her.

His forehead banged against hers, sure to leave a bruise the next day, and his knees were tangled in hers. She coughed in his hair and started to struggle around underneath his body weight.

"Ouch," Jace whispered in her ear. "You elbowed me."

"Well you _ landed_ on me."

He leveled himself up on his elbows and stared at her, trying not to distract himself. "Well, you didn't leave me much of a choice, did you?" he asked, annoyed. "Not after you decided to leap merrily through that Portal like you were jumping the F train. You're just lucky it didn't dump us out in the East River."

"You didn't have to come after me."

"Yes, I did," he said immediately. " You're far too inexperienced to protect yourself in a hostile situation without me." He said, completely serious, though she seemed to take it as a joke.

"That's sweet. Maybe I'll forgive you."

He smiled. "Forgive me? For what?"

"For telling me to shut up."

He narrowed his eyes, not quite remembering. "I did not... Well, I did, but you were-"

"Never mind." She rolled over and stretched her arm out. He could feel her breathing underneath him, and it was like a powerful drug to him to feel her heart beating. She was observing the area they landed in. There was a gray clapboard house, a lawn that was pretty much dead and a chain-link fence. He, on the other hand, was still spluttering about how unreasonable she was being, and that's why he mouthed off to her, but she stopped listening a while ago. She froze. "I know where we are."

Jace shut up. "What?"

"This is Luke's house." She sat up, knocking Jace off of her. He gracefully stood up and held a hand out to help her. She looked at it, and got up on her own. He smiled.

They stood in front of the house that was lined up with a bunch of other houses. Jace saw a small sign swinging above the steps. He walked over to it and read aloud,

"_Garroway Books. Fine Used, New, and Out-of-Print. Closed Saturdays." _He glanced at Clary, bewildered. "He lives in a bookstore?"

"He lives behind the store." Clary's eyes wandered to the street and Jace looked back at the store. It didn't look like much at all, a small shop that people went in only sometimes. He wondered how much business it got. Couldn't be much.

"Jace, how did we get here?"

"Through the Portal," Jace said as he examined the padlock. "It takes you to whatever place you were thinking of."

"But I wasn't thinking of her," Clary objected, as usual. "I wasn't thinking of anywhere."

"You must have been." Jace dropped the subject, not looking forward to another argument. "So, since we're here anyway.."

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Leave, I guess," That is not what he was looking for. "Luke told me not to come here."

Jace shook his head, shocked. She did not seem like the type of girl who listened to people, unless she just doesn't listen to him. "And you just except that?"

Clary hugged herself, which was odd considering it was blazing hot outside. "Do I have a choice?"

"We always have choices," Jace said, trying to be encouraging. "If I were you, I'd be pretty curious about Luke right now. Do you have the keys to the house?"

Clary shook her head. "No, but sometimes he leaves the back door unlocked." She pointed in the direction of the door.

"You sure he isn't home?" Jace asked.

She turned her head to face the house. "Well, his truck's gone, the store's closed, and all the lights are off. I'd say probably not."

"Then lead the way."

The only obstacle in their way was the chain-link fence. They walked over to it, where there were also bushes and weeds, which was supposed to be a garden, guessed Jace. "Up and over," Jace said on the fence. He began to climb it. It rattled loudly as he finished climbing and landed on the other side, into the bushes. As he landed, something... shrieked.

A cat? No, too big under his feet when he jumped on him. Jace fell backward and yelped in surprise. Somebody, a boy, jumped put of the bush. Jace rolled over and ran after him. He grabbed the back of the boy's shirt and lifted him. He was very light and easy to carry. "Got him!" he shouted at Clary. Jace put him down, arms still caught around him. Jace grabbed for his wrist. "Come on, let's see your face-"

"Get the hell off me, you pretentious asshole," the boy pushed Jace off of him and sat on the ground, glasses askew. He recognized him instantly. The mundie who hangs around Clary. The boy that's in love with her. They boy he instantly hated as soon as he heard him talk to her. _ Simon_.

Clary got it too. "Simon?"

"Oh, God," Jace said, disappointed. "And here I thought I'd got a hold of something interesting."

* * *

"But what were you doing hiding in Luke's bushes?" Clary asked as she bent down on her knees to pick leaves out of the boy's hair. Jace held his grimace in place. "That's the part I don't get."

"All right, that's enough. I can fix my own hair, Fray." Simon said and the image of Clary and his own conversation popped in his mind.

_"Very funny, Fray."_

_"Don't call me that."_

_"Why not? It is your last name, isn't it?"_

He was right. It had been Simon all along.

Simon backed away from Clary and sat in the chair as far away from Clary as possible. Luke's porch was very dirty like it hadn't been cleaned in months. Jace was propped against the railing, trying to let the two of them talk, but of course he was listening. He picked up his stele and casually started to file his nails.

"I mean, did Luke know you were there?" she asked.

"Of course he didn't know I was there," Simon said irritably. Well, Jace could definently see how these two became best friends. Who doesn't want to argue with your friend every second of the day. Oh wait, everyone. "I've never asked him, but I'm sure he has a fairly stringent policy about random teenagers lurking in his shrubbery."

"You're not random; he knows you." she paused and Jace looked over. She had moved a chair closer to Simon. Actually, right next to Simon. He wanted so badly to stand up and go over to her and touch her hair or beat the crap out of Simon. He couldn't decide which one he would enjoy more. "The main thing is that you're alright." she said protectively.

"That _I'm_ alright?" Simon laughed a laugh that sounded angry. "Clary, do you have any idea what I've been through the past couple of days? The last time I saw you, you were running out of Java Jones like a bat out of hell, and then you just... disappeared. You never picked up your cell- then your home phone was disconnected- the Luke told me you were off staying with some relatives when I know you don't have any other relatives. I'd thought perhaps I'd done something to piss you off."

"What could you have possibly done?" Clary reached for his hand, and Jace flinched and turned around not wanting to see if he takes it or not, He when back to filing.

"I don't know," he said. " Something."

Jace chuckled. Yeah, something. Like when he tried unsuccessfully to express his feelings for her and almost puking. Jace wondered if Clary would want Simon after he puked on her.

"You're my best friend," Clary said. "I wasn't mad at you."

"Yeah, well, you clearly also couldn't be bothered to call me and tell me you were shacking up with some dyed-blond wanna-be goth you probably met at Pandemonium." Simon said, and Jace gave him a sour look. "After I spent the past three days wondering if you were _dead._"

"I was not shacking up," Clary said as Jace blushed, but it was getting dark so no one could see.

"And my hair is naturally blond," said Jace. "Just for the record."

"So what have you been doing these passed three days, then?" Simon said, his voice was very suspicious. "Do you really have a great aunt Matilda who contracted avian flu and needed to be nursed back to health?"

"Did Luke actually say that?"

"No. He just said you had gone to visit a sick relative, and that your phone probably just didn't work out of the country. Not that I believed him. After he shooed me off his front porch, I went around the side of the house and looked in the back window. Watched him packing up a green duffel bag like he was going away from the weekend. That was when I decided to stick around and keep an eye on things."

"Why? Because he was packing a bag?"

"He was packing it full of weapons," Simon said. Jace's head shot up and glanced at Clary. "Knives, a couple daggers, even a sword. Funny thing is, some of the weapons looked like they were glowing." Simon looked from Clary to Jace, knowing something was up. "Now, are you going to say I was imagining it?"

"No," Clary said, and Jace knew what was coming. "I'm not going to say that." She looked up at him and he felt the weight of her gaze, which he was soon going to have to get used to. "I'm going to tell him the truth."

"I know." Jace said without hesitation.

"Are you going to try to stop me?" she said, almost playfully.

He looked at the stele for a moment. "My oath to the Covenant binds me," he said. "No such oath binds you."

She turned back to Simon and took a deep breath. "All right, here's what you have to know."

* * *

Jace could not stand to hear Clary explaining basically something he was told to keep secret since he moved here. In Idiris it wasn't a problem since everyone there was a Shadowhunter or someone of the sort. But to tell a mundane, someone he absolutely cannot stand, was horrible. Clary finished talking and the three of them sat in utter silence. It was broken a couple minutes later with Clary clearing her throat. "So," she said awkwardly. "any questions?"

Simon held up his hand. "Oh, I've got questions. Several."

"Okay, shoot." Clary said.

He pointed at Jace. "Now he's a- what do you cal people like him again?"

"He's a Shadowhunter," Clary said, just as uncomfortable as Jace was.

"A demon hunter," Jace clarified. "I kill demons. It's not that complicated, really."

Simon looked at Clary. "For real?" His eyes were narrowed and his glasses were sliding to the bridge of his nose. Jace rolled his eyes, hoping they wouldn't have to explain again.

"For real." Clary said, sounding tired.

Jace was looking at his nails. They looked good. Not a flaw.

"And there are vampires, too? Werewolves, warlocks, all that stuff?"

"So I hear."

"And you kill them, too?" Simon said. Jace looked up to find Simon and Clary looking up at him.

"Only when they've been naughty."

Simon looked at his feet and Jace knew Clary was worried. He could still see the green in her eyes, though the sun had gone done. She wasn't looking at him, she was looking at the scrawny, curly haired boy with the glasses. Jace shook his head when Simon finally decided to break the silence."That is _so __awesome_," he said.

Jace was startled. "Awesome?"

The kid nodded as if he was a golden retriever sticking his head out the window and his head lost all control. "Totally. It's like Dungeons and Dragons, but _real_."

Jace was as confused as he could get at this point and stared at Simon with his eyes narrowed and his mouth wide open. "It's like what?"

"It's a game," Clary explained. She sounded as if she liked the game at first, and then her tone changed into a i-don't-care tone. "People pretend to be wizards and elves, and the kill monster and stuff."

Jace officially hated mundanes. _Well, that's offensive,_ he thought.

Simon grinned, and although it was meant to be an excited grin, it looked evil to him. "You've never heard of Dungeons and Dragons?"

"I've heard of dungeons," Jace said, matter-of-factly. "Also dragons. Although they're mostly extinct."

He looked disappointed. "You've never killed a dragon?"

_Well, I'm not Jesus..._ he thought.

"He's probably never met a six-foot-tall hot elf-woman in a fur bikini, either," Clary said, defending him. "Lay off, Simon."

Jace smiled. "Real elves are about eight inches tall," Jace pointed out. "Also, they bite."

"But vampires are hot right?" Simon asked, Jace getting used to his mundane questions. "I mean, some of the vampires are babes, aren't they?"

Jace actually considered this question. "Some of them, maybe."

Clary looked at him as if he just ran up to a badger and bit his butt just for amusement. He shrugged.

_"Awesome,"_ Simon repeated.

Jace slid off the porch railing and decided to move on from this subject. "So, are we going to search the house, or not?"

Simon scrambled to his feet. "I'm game. What are we looking for?"

"_ We_?" said Jace, not wanting him to join their group. "I don't remember inviting you along."

_"Jace,"_ Clary said angrily.

He smiled at her and laughed. "Just joking." _Not really, but let's go with __that_, he thought. He stepped aside to let Clary passed him so she could open the door. "Shall we?"

She blindingly walked to the door and opened it. They walked into the entryway to find another door awaiting them. Clary tried to open that one too, but it wouldn't budge. "It's locked."

"Allow me, mundanes," he stepped in front of them and whipped his stele out. He created a simple opening rune and waited for it to take effect. "Here we go," Jace said as he looked back over at the two, who seemed to be in conversation. The three walked into the store as the rune faded above them.

There were cardboard boxes everywhere they looked that had genres written on them. "Fiction," "Poetry," "Cooking," "Local Interest," "Romance." and so many others.

"The apartment's through there." Clary said, and started to lead the way. Jace saw something dripping from the distance.

Jace caught her arm. "Wait."

The look she gave him was fear. Nervous, but mostly fear. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know." He walked over to whatever was dripping. He was pretty sure he knew what it was. "Clary, you might want to come over here and see this."

She just stood there, shaking her head. "It's so dark-"

He lit the room with his witchlight stone. The light was bright and it reflected off of Simon's glasses. "Ouch!" he exclaimed and turned to the side a bit.

Jace chuckled. Oh, mundanes. "Witchlight," he said. He heard Simon mutter something about Jace being a showoff, and Jace rather enjoyed that. Clary was behind him as he examined a space on the wall. "Look at that," he pointed to the space. There were manacles on the wall. That's not usual. "Are those..." he said, though he knew what they were.

"Manacles," Simon said, as if this were his everyday job. "That's, ah..."

"Don't say 'kinky.'" Clary sounded angry and shot Simon a warning look. "This is Luke we're talking about."

Jace ran his hand along the inside of a metal loop. It came away wet. He was right. "Blood. And look." He pointed the the plaster on the wall that seemed to bulge outward. "Someone tried to yank these things out of the wall. Tried pretty hard, from the looks of it."

"Do you think Luke is all right?"

Jace gave her an honest, but not too painful answer. "I think we'd better find out."

The door to the apartment was unlocked, and it led to a living area. There were tons of books in there as well. He saw Simon walk over to the kitchen.

"I think he's still around," called Simon. "The percolator's on and there's coffee here. Still hot."

Jace stayed with Simon examining the kitchen while Clary went to wander. He was right, coffee was still hot. Dishes were in the sink, jackets on hooks. Besides the manacles, nothing seemed to be wrong, but Jace knew that to be false.

"Where did you see the duffel bag?" he asked Simon.

"The office. Hey wait-" Simon began and thought better of it.

"What?" Jace asked threateningly. "What is it, mundane?"

"I just wanted you to know... that Clary's a great girl, and if you ever do anything to hurt her, you'll be in for it." Simon said, his voice shaking with fear, as it should be with him talking to Jace like that. But Jace stopped dead in his tracks. He was surprised that the mundane boy would come out and say this.

"I know," Jace said simply. "I know she's great. But I don't know what you think is going on, because nothing is. Now, where is the duffel bag, again?"

"The office." Simon said quietly.

His words were stuck in his head like a CD repeating one line over and over again.

_Clary's a great girl, and if you ever do anything to hurt her, you'll be in for it._

Was that really how he looked? Jace wondered if Clary thought he would hurt her.

He found the office and saw the duffel bag lying there. You would think that if Luke was no longer here he would've brought his bag with him, but they all knew that this was no normal occasion. Jace opened it and saw that Simon was right. It had been full of weapons from knives to daggers to swords. And they were glowing. He picked up the razer sharp disk. He also saw a picture of Clary and her mom and Luke, he had guessed at least. The picture was cracked, like someone stepped on it. He set it aside.

Clary came in and she was wearing clothes that suit her better than Isabelle's clothes that were way too big. She was now wearing a T-shirt with some cartoon on it, and jeans. He answered her unasked question about the razer sharp disks. "It's a _chakram," _he said as she walked over to him. "A Sikh weapon. You whirl it around your index finger before releasing it. They're rare and hard to use. Strange that Luke would have one. They used to be Hodge's weapon of choice, back in the day. Or so he tells me."

"Luke collects stuff. Art objects. You know," she was wandering over to the shelf behind Luke's desk. There were statuettes lined up. He pointed to an Indian girl, well, more than a girl. She looked powerful and she had a sword. A warrior princess, maybe. "Pretty things." she concluded, and he guessed she liked that doll.

Jace continued to look through Luke's bag. He put the chakram down and picked up a pile of clothes from the suitcase. He picked to picture back up and showed it to her. "I think this is yours, by the way."

She looked at it and quickly took it from him, as if she were embarrassed. "That is mine,"

"It's cracked," Jace said.

"I know. _I _did that- I smashed it. When I threw it at the Ravener demon." By the Angel, Jace thought. Luke took that from the other apartment.

Obviously Clary was thinking the same thing. "That means Luke's been back to the apartment since the attack. Maybe even today-"

"He must have been the last person to come through the Portal," Jace realized, putting pieces together. "That's why it took us here. You weren't thinking of anything, so it sent us back to the last place it had been."

"Nice of Dorothea to tell us he was there," Clary said.

"He probably paid her off to be quiet. Either that or she trusts him more than she trusts us. Which means he might not be-"

"Guys!" It was Simon, attitude totally changed since their encounter five minutes ago. Because now, instead of pretending to be a tough-guy, he looked like he just pissed his pants. "Someone's coming!"

A loud _bang!_ sounded as Clary dropped the photo. "Is it Luke?"

Simon peered down the hall and nodded. "It is. But he's not by himself- there are two men with him."

"Men?" Jace crossed the room to Simon and his heart sped up. _Dammit._ "Warlocks."_  
_

Clary stared at him in disbelief. "Warlocks? But-"

Jace didn't want to hear it. He turned to Clary and walked up to her. He whispered a panicked whisper. "Is there some other way out of here? A back door?"

Clary shook her head and shied away from him. Jace looked desperately. The last thing he needed was to be exposed for breaking and entering. He spotted a rosewood screen. "Get behind that," he said. "_Now."_

Clary was holding onto Simon and they slipped behind the screen. Jace followed in behind them and took out his stele. He got behind the screen just in time because the moment he did, he heard the door open. Jace lifted his stele up to make sure they could see the conversation. His stele drew softly from corner to corner a big square. As he was drawing, he realized their voices sounded familiar, He finished the square and it became clear. Simon and Clary looked at him as if he were crazy. Me mouthed the words:_ They can't see us through it, but we can see them._

The "window" Jace created did not show the whole room. Right now all they could see was Luke. He looked torn up and nothing like he did in the picture. He had glasses on the top of his hair and he was all dirty.

Luke looked at the men and sarcastically said. " Yes, feel free to look around," Jace noticed his voice was scratchy. "Nice of you to show such an interest."

Jace tapped the frame of his "window" to make it bigger. Now he could see the other two men and saw why they sounded familiar. His heart started beating at first, from shock. Then, it slowed from sadness.

"Those are warlocks?" Clary whispered softly. Jace didn't answer. Fire was running through his veins now. Anger, sadness and shock mixed into one feeling he hasn't felt for seven years. He stared at the men in the burgundy cloaks with a hateful passion.

The one with the familiar gray mustache started to speak. "Consider this a friendly follow-up, _Graymark_," he said. He smiled so big, that Jace could see his teeth, which looked sharpened to a point.

"There's nothing friendly about you, Pangborn." Luke said. Jace tore his eyes off the men he despised and looked at Luke. He was bloody in many places; his fingers, a few spots on his face. But the most noticeable would be the long cut that started at his jaw and ran all the way down to the collar of his shirt. It was probably longer under his shirt. He glanced at Clary and her eyes were wide on Luke. Her hand trembled and Jace worried for her for a second. But that was interrupted by Luke.

"Blackwell, don't touch that- it's valuable," Luke said sternly.

The huge man with red hair was holding the doll tat Clary liked. Jace, who didn't want these two men anywhere near anyone he associated with, desperately wanted him to drop dead on the spot. He ran his hand along the bookshelves with the dolls on it. "Nice," he said, simply.

"Ah," Pangborn said, taking the doll from Blackwell. "She who was created to battle a demon who could not be killed by any God or man. 'Oh, Kali, my mother full of bliss! Enchantress of the almighty Shiva, in thy delirious joy thou dancest, clapping thy hands together. Thou art the mover of all that moves, and we are but thy helpless toys.'" It took everything Jace had not to get up and kill the annoying murderer until the pain from his body was visible.

"Very nice," said Luke in an annoyed sort of tone. "I didn't know you were a student of the Indian myths."

"All the myths are true," said Pangborn. He felt Clary tense beside him. "Or have you forgotten even that?"

"I forget nothing." Luke said. "I suppose Valentine sent you?" Valentine?

"He did," said Pangborn. "He thought you might have changed your mind."

"There is nothing to change my mind about. I already told you I don't know anything. Nice cloaks, by the way."

"Thanks," said Blackwell with his ugly, sly grin. "Skinned off a couple of dead warlocks."

"Those are official Accord robes, aren't they?" Luke asked. "Are they from the uprising?"

Pangborn chuckled softly. The sound echoed in Jace's mind like a broken recored. "Spoils of battle."

"Aren't you afraid someone might mistake you for the real thing?"

"Not," Blackwell said. "once they got up close."

Pangborn started playing with his robe. "Do you remember the Uprising, Lucian?" he said in a scary soft voice that sent chills up Jace's spine. "That was a great and terrible day. Do you remember how we trained together for the battle?"

Luke's face looked the same as Jace was feeling. He looked as if he was remembering horrible memories from the past, just as Jace was. "The past is the past. I don't know what to tell you gentlemen. I can't help you now. I don't know anything."

"'Anything' is such a general word, so unspecific," said Pangborn, sounding as if he were about to rip Luke's head off, and then apologize for doing it. Like a scary-kind person. "Surely someone who owns so many books must know _something_."

"If you want to find out where to find a jog-toed swallow in springtime, I could direct you to the right reference title. But if you want to know where the Mortal cup has disappeared to..."

"Disappeared might not be quite the correct word," purred Pangborn. "Hidden, more like. Hidden by Jocelyn." Jocelyn? Clary's mother, perhaps?

"That may be," said Luke. "So she hasn't told you where it is yet?"

"She has not yet regained consciousness," said Pangborn. "Valentine is disappointed. He was looking forward to their reunion."

"I'm sure she didn't reciprocate the sentiment," Luke muttered under his breath.

Pangborn cackled. "Jealous, Graymark? Perhaps you no longer feel about her the way you _used_ to." Clary started to tremble, Jace could sense it. He looked over at her intertwined fingers and realized that they were talking about her mother.

"I never felt any way about her, particularly," said Luke. "Two Shadowhunters, exiled from their own kind, you can see why we might have banded together. But I'm not going to try to interfere with Valentine's plans for her, if that's what he's worried about."

"I wouldn't say he was worried," said Pangborn. "More curious. We all wondered if you were still alive. Still recognizably human."

Luke's eyebrows shot up. "And?"

"You seem well enough," said Pangborn. He sat the doll, Kali, on the shelf. "There was a child wasn't there? A girl."

Luke looked up at the men abruptly. "What?"

"Don't play dumb," hissed Blackwell. "We know the bitch had a daughter. They found photos of her in the apartment, a bedroom-"

"I thought you were asking of children of mine," Luke said, going back to his annoyed expression. "Yes, Jocelyn had a daughter, Clarissa. I assume she's run off. Did Valentine send you to find her?" Jace suddenly felt very protective over Clary and glanced at her. She was as pale as a ghost.

"Not us," said Pangborn. "But he is looking."

"We could search this place," Blackwell added and Jace started to sweat in fear.

"I wouldn't advise it," said Luke, sliding off the desk he was sitting on. he stared at the two men coldly. "What makes you think she's still alive? I thought Valentine sent Raveners to scour the place. Enough Ravener poison, and most people will crumble away to ashes, leave no trace behind."

"There was a dead Ravener," said Pangborn. "It made Valentine suspicious."

"Everything makes Valentine suspicious," said Luke. "Maybe Jocelyn killed it. She was certainly capable."

Blackwell grunted, obviously not believing Luke's story. "Maybe."

Luke looked at them and shrugged. "Look, I've got no idea where the girl is, but for what it's worth, I'd guess she's dead. She'd have turned up by now otherwise. Anyway, she's not much of a danger. She's fifteen years old, she's never heard of Valentine, and she doesn't believe in demons." Jace could tell Luke was trying to protect Clary. Luke knows that Clary is alive, she called him earlier that day.

Pangborn chuckled, sending Jace back into his misery with these men. "A fortunate child."

"Not anymore," Luke pointed out.

Blackwell raised his eyebrows. "You sound angry, Lucian"

"I'm not angry, I'm exasperated. I'm not planning on interfering with Valentine's plans, do you understand that? I'm not a fool."

"Really?" said Blackwell, being plain old nasty. "It's nice to see that you've developed a healthy respect for your own skin over the years, Lucian. You weren't always so pragmatic."

"You do know," said Pangborn. "that we'd trade her, Jocelyn, for the Cup? Safely delivered right to your door. That's a promise from Valentine himself."

"I know," said Luke. "I'm not interested. I don't know where your precious Cup is, and I don't want to get involved with your politics. I hate Valentine," he added, almost as an afterthought. "but I respect him. I know he'll mow down everyone in his path. I intend to be out of his way when it happens. He's a monster- a killing machine."

"Look who's talking," snarled Blackwell. The fire in Jace's veins told him to drive a blade through his heart, but he knew better.

"I take it these are your preparations for removing yourself from Valentine's path?" said Pangborn, pointing to the duffel bag that was half packed. "Getting out of town, Lucian?"

Luke nodded, slowly. Jace could tell Luke was doing something that he would not let these men know about. "Going to the country. I plan to lay low for a while."

"We could stop you, " said Blackwell, advancing on Luke. "Make you stay."

Luke smiled. The man in front of them was not the man in the picture. He was... vicious. Even the two bastards were starting to look frightened, which made him instantly like Luke. "You could try."

Pangborn glanced at Blackwell, who shook his head. Pangborn turned back to Luke. "You'll notify us if you experience any sudden memory resurgence?"

Luke was still smiling, but he looked friendlier. "You'll be the first on my lit to call."

Pangborn nodded slowly and Jace was getting a headache due to his childhood memory replaying in his head and watching the men who caused the problem at the same time. "I suppose we'll take our leave. The Angel guard you, Lucian."

"The Angel does not guard those like me," Luke quickly shoved the rest of his items in his bag and knotted the top. "On your way gentlemen?"

Jace watched the three of them walk out of the room slowly. The men lifted their hoods up over their heads and left. Luke looked around the room one last time, and followed them out.

The fire in his veins was cooling off, just a little bit, but it was definently still there. Jace's heart slowly was going back to normal. Jace focused his attention on Clary beside him. She was as frozen as expected, considering her friend was showing himself as a traitor. Simon, whom Jace forgot he was even here, put his hand on Clary's shoulder.

"Clary?" Simon said, sounding gentle and caring. "Are you okay?"

Clary shook her head and her lip trembled. Jace could tell she was trying hard not to cry, as Jace was minutes before. "Of course she isn't." Jace said, coming across harsh, which wasn't really meant for Simon, but just his anger inside. He moved the screen aside so they could get out of the tight space. "At least now we know who would send a demon after your mother. Those men think she has the Mortal Cup."

Her lips thinned into a straight line, doubting. "That's totally ridiculous and impossible."

"Maybe," said Jace. He leaned against Luke's desk and caught Clary's eyes. He looked at her for a second before saying something. "Have you ever seen those men before?"

"No." She shook her head. "Never."

"Lucian seemed to know them. To be friendly with them." Jace said in disgust.

"I wouldn't say friendly," said Simon. "I'd say they were suppressing their hostility."

"They didn't kill him outright," said Jace. "They think he knows more than he's telling."

"Maybe," said Clary. "or maybe they're just reluctant to kill another Shadowhunter."

Jace surprised himself by laughing. Not a laugh like she told a joke, but an evil laugh. "I doubt that."

She grimaced at him. "What makes you so sure? Do you know them?"

Jace felt the fire again. "Do I know them?" he echoed. "You might say that. Those are the men who murdered my father."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! And again sorry for that! I'll try to do this more often!**


	9. The Circle and the Brotherhood

**Wow, it's been weeks, hasn't it? Huh... well I realized it's been a while sooooo... Here!**

CHAPTER 9: THE CIRCLE AND THE BROTHERHOOD

* * *

Jace's heart was still racing. Half of him wanted to run after those two murderers and get his revenge, and half of him wanted to pass out. He knew none of those were an option, so he just stood there like a freaking statue. He felt Clary touch his arm, but he shook it off. "We should go," he said walking out of the room, Clary and the mundane on his heals. "We don't know when Luke might come back."

When they left, Jace took out his stele to lock up behind them, but his hand was shaking so much that he messed up. He looked behind him but Clary and Simon didn't see him. He tried again and this time succeeded in locking the door.

The sky was now dark, and the three walked on the silent street under the moonlight. It was very pretty and it almost made Jace smile, but that went away quick, when he remembered the events of earlier on. "Does anyone want to tell me where we're going?" He heard Simon say.

"The L train," Jace said, with no emotion, although the kid annoyed him beyond extent.

"You've got to be kidding me," the mundane said, sounding shocked and disappointed. "Demon slayers take the subway?"

"It's faster than driving." He wanted to rip his head off.

"I thought it'd be something cooler, like a van with 'Death to Demons' painted on the outside or..."

Jace had to force his mouth shut. No one asked him to be here. Neither he, or even Clary asked him to join them. He jumped on by himself. If he is not so impressed, maybe he should go home and play his stupid magical elf game. He felt as if if he opened his mouth, he would breath fire. He was that mad. And it wasn't all the mundane. No, it was the murders who killed his father, the day in Pandemonium, and yes, Clary, who had the other half of his tension.

"Simon," Clary said, angrily. "Enough."

Jace turned to see Simon's expression. Confusion.

They turned onto Kent Avenue, feeling Clary's eyes on him. Apart of him felt bad, he was probably scaring her. But most of him didn't care. They road the subway in complete utter silence, which was coming to feel normal to Jace.

* * *

"You live_ here_?" Simon said, as he stared at the Institute, which to him looked like an old broken down church, with an insane look on his face. "But it's a church."

Jace reached into the neck of his shirt and grabbed his key. He had to get away from this mundane. He is getting on his last nerve. He'll just drop him off with Isabelle, which would make any guy happy.

But he decided to answer Simon's question. "We find it useful to inhabit hallowed ground."

"I get that but, no offense, this place is a dump," Simon said with a disgusted look on his face. Jace kept his mouth shut, again. This is probably the most annoyed he's been since... birth.

Clary sighed and said, "It's a glamour, Simon, it doesn't really look like this."

"If this is your idea of a glamour, I'm having second thoughts about letting you make me over."

Jace fit the key in the lock and his temper rose. He turned to face Simon. "I'm not sure you're quite sensible to the honor I'm doing you," he said. "You'll be the first mundane who has ever been inside the Institute." He looked at Clary. He wished she would just tell him to go home. He couldn't send him home. It would crush her, he could tell.

"Probably the smell keeps the rest of them away."

"Ignore him," Clary said to Jace. "He always says exactly what comes into his head. No filters."

"Filters are for cigarettes and coffee," Simon said, then added softly, "Two things I could use right now, incidentally."

As they started up the stairs, Clary seemed to be in a trance. He held back a smile. They walked on over to the elevator and stepped inside.

Another awkward silence. Jace focused on what he _wanted_ to do about Pangborn and Blackwell. Not that that did him any good, but sometimes it was nice to visualize.

When the elevator stopped and they stepped out, Jace threw his jacket on a nearby chair and started to whistle through his teeth. This was a nervous habit of his. It's not often that he does it. He saw a white/blue puff ball running towards them.

"Church," Jace said, kneeling down to stroke the cat. "Where's Alec, Church? Where's Hodge?" he meowed in response and Jace said, "Are they in the library?" Church started to trot down the narrow hallway. Jace waved his hand indicating that Clary and Simon follow.

"I don't like cats," Simon said, behind Jace.

"It's unlikely," Jace said, "knowing Church, that he likes you either."

They passed through a huge wall of doors. "How many people live here, exactly?"

"It's an institute," Clary said. "A place where Shadowhunters can stay when they're in the city. Like a sort of combination safe haven and research facility."

"I thought it was a church." Jace rolled his eyes.

"It's inside a church."

"Because _that's_ not confusing." There was a moment of silence, and then Jace heard whispering.

He knew he shouldn't listen, though he tried, but did not succeed. All he heard was words like '...weird' and '...trust'. Jace started to talk to the cat, which, so far, has been the highlight of his day.

They ended up in the kitchen, which was not smelling that great. And that was because, there was Isabelle, with a big spoon in her hand, which means she's cooking.

"I'm making soup," Isabelle said waving her spoon at Jace. "Are you hungry?" And that's when she looked at them. "Oh, my God," she said, expressionless at first. "You brought a mundie here? Hodge is going to kill you."

Simon closed his mouth that was wide open and cleared his throat. "I'm Simon." he croaked.

Isabelle's face turned scarlet. "JACE WAYLAND," she screamed. "Explain yourself."

Jace looked down and glared at the cat. "I told you to bring me to Alec! Backstabbing Judas." Church purred and rubbed against Jace's leg.

"Don't blame Church," Isabelle said, "It's not his fault Hodge is going to kill you." She started to stir her pot-of-death again.

"I had to bring him," Jace said, and brought up what has been bothering him. "Isabelle- today I saw two of the men who killed my father."

Isabelle tightened up and she turned around fast. "I don't suppose he's one of them?" she said pointing her spoon at Simon.

For once the mundane is silent. Jace looked at him, and he was just staring at Isabelle. Jace smiled, knowing that would happen.

"Of course not," Jace said. "Do you think he'd be alive now if he were?"

Isabelle gave Simon an 'I don't trust you' look and said, "I suppose not," she dropped a fish on the floor. Church was in heaven.

"No wonder he brought us here," said Jace, disgusted. "I can't believe you've been stuffing him with fish again. He's looking distinctively podgy.

"He does not look podgy. Besides, none of the rest of you ever eat anything. I got this recipe from a water sprite at the Chelsea Market. He said it was delicious-"

"If you knew how to cook, maybe I _would_ eat." Jace muttered under his breath.

Isabelle froze, and he could tell that if he doesn't shut up, she's going to throw that spoon at him. "_What _did you say?"

Jace headed toward the fridge. "I said I'm going to look for a snack to eat."

"That's what I thought you said." Jace opened the refrigerator door and looked for something. Clary was right behind him.

"I can't believe you're eating," she hissed at him.

Jace didn't see the problem with that. "What should I be doing instead?" he said, still peering in the fridge.

"Wow, he's like a crazy roommate," she said. He wondered what she was talking about when he saw the labels on the containers that said: HODGE'S. DO NOT EAT.

"What, Hodge? He just likes things in order." He took one of the containers out of the fridge and opened it. "Hmm, Spaghetti."

"Don't ruin your appetite," Isabelle called.

"That," said Jace, shutting the door and opening the drawer for a fork, "is exactly what I intend to do." He glanced at Clary and asked, "Want some?"

She shook her head looking as if there were somewhere else she'd rather be. Which there probably was.

"Of course not," he said, his mouth stuffed. By the Angel, he was hungry. "you ate all those sandwiches."

"It wasn't that may sandwiches." Her face turned red and she turned to look at Simon. He was still gawking over Izzy, but he actually got her to talk to him. She turned her head and looked ... sad. Jace cocked an eyebrow, but focused on his food. "Can we go find Hodge now?"

"You seem awfully eager to get out of here."

"Don't you want to tell him what we saw?"

"I haven't decided yet." Jace put the food down and saw Spaghetti sauce on his knuckle. He licked it off. "But if you want to go so badly-"

"I do." she said instantly.

"Fine." He said, in an attitude that she was probably getting used to now. She was staring at him, and Jace could the wheels in her head were turning. She's studying him. It made Jace uncomfortable, when he realized he studies her, too. He guesses that they are just both hard to figure out.

"Where are you going?" Simon finally said, looking up from Isabelle for the first time in minutes. He looked especially tired and was still in his daze Isabelle had cast on him.

"To find Hodge," Clary said. "I need to tell him what happened at Luke's."

Isabelle snapped her head in his direction. "Are you going to tell him that you saw those men, Jace? The ones that-"

"I don't know." He said, cutting her off. "So keep it to yourself for now."

She shrugged. "All right. Are you going to come back? Do you want any soup?"

"No," said Jace.

"Do you think Hodge will want any soup?"

"No one wants any soup."

"I want some soup," Simon said. That little weasel.

"No, you don't," said Jace, getting mad... again. "You just want to sleep with Isabelle."

Simon was turning a bright shade of scarlet. "That is _not_ true."

"How flattering," Isabelle said, smirking into her soup.

"Oh, yes it is," said Jace, ignoring Isabelle. "Go ahead and ask her- than she can turn you down and the rest of us can get on with our lives while you fester in miserable humiliation." He started to snap his fingers to emphasize. "Hurry up mundie boy, we've got work to do."

Simon looked away in embarrassment. Clary turned to face Jace and was super angry. "Leave him alone," she snapped. When she was mad, she grew. Not physically, but she was loud enough for someone eight feet, let alone her five. "There's no need to be sadistic just because he isn't one of you."

Jace looked at her softly. "One of _us,"_ he said. "I'm going to find Hodge. Come along or not, it's your choice." He left the three of them in the kitchen. He started to walk down the hallway and twirled his seraph blade in between his fingers. He saw Clary following him and he pocketed it.

"Kind of you to leave the love birds to it." he said sarcastically.

Clary frowned at him. It was almost laughable. "Why are you always such and asshat?"

"An asshat?" Jace held back his laughter. That's a new one.

"What you said to Simon-"

"I was trying to save him some pain. Isabelle will cut out his heart and walk all over it in high-heeled boots. That's what she does to boys like that."

"Is that what she did to you?" She sapped. He shook his head. She just didn't get it. As much as her precious Simon was annoying, he would probably feel bad for the guy if Isabelle broke his heart. He saw Church laying in front of his feet.

"Hodge," he said, not replying to Clary. "And _really _Hodge this time. Bring us anywhere else, and I'll make you into a tennis racket." The cat slumped down the hall in front of them. Jace was in front of Clary a little, because of her short legs. He tried to slow down for her, but he couldn't. He was so stressed and when he was nervous, he couldn't stop moving.

"Jace." He turned to look at her and looked into her eyes for a moment. Then he said, "What?"

"I'm sorry. For snapping at you."

He chuckled. He liked this about her. She had apologized for hitting him earlier too. He found it cute. _Ugh_, Jace thought. _You just lost man points for using the word 'cute'._ "Which time?"

"You snap at me, too, you know."

"I know," he said. She looked taken aback. "There's something about you that's so-"

"Irritating?" _Not really..._

"Unsettling."

This was the truth. He was not the same when she was around. He felt nervous, which was not common.

"Does Isabelle always make you dinner?" she asked, changing the subject.

"No, thank God. Most of the time the Lightwoods are here and Maryse- that's Isabelle's mother- she cooks for us. She's an amazing cook." His mouth started to water. He was thinking of delicious food Maryse makes, like her burgers... he was getting distracted.

"Than how come she never taught Isabelle?" She asked. She turned her head to look in the music room.

"Because," Jace said slowly. Back to the questions. "It's only been recently that women have been Shadowhunters along with men. I mean, there have always been women in the Clave- mastering the runes, creative weaponry, teaching in the Killing Arts- but only a few warriors, ones with exceptional abilities. They had to fight to be trained. Mayrse was part of the first generation of Clave women who were trained as a matter of course- and I think she never taught Isabelle how to cook because she was afraid that if she did, Isabelle would be relegated to the kitchen permanently."

"Would she have been?" Clary's voice was sparked with curiosity.

Jace thought of all the battles they have fought with her. All of the demons Izzy had killed.

And then Jace laughed. "Not Isabelle. She's one of the best Shadowhunters I've ever known."

"Better than Alec?"

Jace didn't know how to answer that. Alec had never killed a demon. He was always protecting them. Just him being there was brave. Being a Shadowhunter is very frightening, even Jace thought so. He just let the question hang in the air. Church led them to the greenhouse. "So he's in the greenhouse," Jace said to the cat. "No surprise there."

"The greenhouse?" Clary said.

He swung himself onto the first step. "Hodge likes it up there. He grows medicinal plants, things we can use. Most of them only grow in Idris. I think it reminds him of home.

Jace kept walking up the steps and Clary followed. "Is he better than Isabelle?" she asked again. "Alec, I mean?"

He flipped around so that he was leaning down towards her. He was a few steps higher than her. "Better?" he said. "At demon slaying? No, not really. He's never killed a demon."

"Really?"

"I don't know why not. Maybe because he's always protecting Izzy and me." Jace and Clary walked up the rest of the stairs where they see the vine covered double doors. Jace pushed it open.

The greenhouse was beautiful. Jace loved it. He came here a lot at night. There was a flower that he called the midnight flower, because it blossoms at midnight. Sometimes he would come up and watch it bloom. He found it very interesting.

"It smells like..." Clary trailed off.

"Home." he finished for her. "to me." He pushed aside a hanging frond and ducked past it.

Hodge was spotted instantly. He was sitting on a bench with Hugo on his shoulder. He had been staring at the water with deep focus. He looked up when they walked in.

"You look like you're waiting for something," Jace observed. He picked a leaf off of a nearby tree and started to play with it. He always had to do _something_.

"I was lost in thought." Hodge focused in on them and his eyes narrowed and he looked worried. "What happened? You look as if-"

"We were attacked," Jace said, remembering. It seemed like forever ago that they were in Clary's apartment. But it was only a few hours ago. "Forsaken."

"Forsaken warriors? Here?"

"Warrior," Jace cleared up. "We only saw one."

"But Dorothea said there were more," Clary added. This made Jace want to duct tape her mouth closed.

"Dorothea?" Hodge held his hand up, having heard too much information to let sink in. "This might be easier if you took events in order."

"Right." Jace looked at Clary with a look that he hoped told her to shut up. He wasn't sure if she cared. He jumped into their day starting off with Clary's apartment. Then their visit with Dorothea. And then Luke's place. This took the longest to explain. First, he had to tell him how they got there. When he was explaining this, Hodge's head turn towards Clary. Probably because of the fact that she jumped through a magic portal without knowing where it would take her. Then he had to mention the mundane. That was going to get him in trouble later, when their... guest wasn't around. He also told him about Luke's. All except for the part where the two men that were there, were the two men who killed his father. "Clary's mother's friend- or whatever he is, really- goes by the name Luke Garroway." He finally got out. "But while we were at his house, the two men who claimed they were emissaries of Valentine referred to him as Lucian Graymark."

"And their names were..."

"Pangborn." Jace said, fire revisiting his lungs. "And Blackwell."

Hodge had gone pale. He must've known them, or at least heard a great deal about them. "It is as I feared," he said quietly. "The Circle is rising again."

Jace caught Clary's questioning gaze, but he was just as confused as her. "The Circle?" he asked.

Hodge was shaking his head violently. "Come with me," he said. "It's time I showed you something."

* * *

When they went to the library, it was clear Hodge had been stressed lately. His desk was the most cluttered it has ever been. Clary sat down on the sofa, and Jace followed. He sat next to her, and leaned on the arm of the couch to avoid them touching. "Hodge, if you need help looking-"

"Not at all." Hodge emerged from behind the desk, brushing dust from the knees of his trousers. "I've found it."

He held in his hand a big, leathery looking book. It looked really old. But Hodge carefully started to look through it. He started to mutter. "Where... where... ah, here it is!" he exclaimed. He cleared his throat and began to read aloud. "_I hereby render unconditional obedience to the Circle and its principles... I will be ready to risk my life at any time for the Circle, in order to preserve the purity of the bloodlines of Idris, and for the mortal world with whose safety we are charged."_

Jace felt his eyes widen and his mouth do a funky look. "What was that from?"

"It was the loyalty oath of the Circle of Raziel, twenty years ago," said Hodge, who sounded tired. Jace couldn't blame him. things have been tense here since their last visit to the Pandemonium club.

"It sounds creepy," said Clary. "Like a fascist organization or something."

Hodge set the book down. He looked as if something were paining him. Jace understands him being tired, but pained? He was starting to worry about him. Something was off.

"They were a group," he said. "of Shadowhunters, led by Valentine, dedicated to wiping out all Downworlders and returning the world to a 'purer' state. Their plan was to wait for the Downworlders to arrive in Idris to sign the Accords. Approximately every fifteen years, they must be signed again, to keep their magic potent," he explained to Clary. Jace couldn't believe how fast she was catching on to this new world. "Then, they planned to slaughter them all, unarmed and defenseless. This terrible act, they thought, would speak off a war between humans and Downworlders- one they intended to win."

"That was the Uprising," said Jace. He remembered hearing about the Uprising from... everywhere. He just never understood why it happened and what it connected with. "I didn't know Valentine and his followers had a name."

"The name isn't spoken often nowadays," said Hodge. "Their existence remains an embarrassment to the Clave. Most documents pertaining them have been destroyed."

"Then why do you have a copy of the oath?" Jace asked.

Hodge took a moment to tell them. "Because, I helped write it."

Jace looked up, stunned. "You were in the Circle." It felt as if his trust towards Hodge was slowly going down a drain, but the drain was clogged, keeping it from slipping.

"I was. Manny of us were." Hodge looked at Clary. "Clary's mother as well."

Clary jerked back and hit the back of the couch. Jace, even though was the one who suspected her mother to be part of the Clave, wasn't expecting her to be part of the Circle. "_What_?"

"I said-"

"I know what you said! My mother would never have belonged to something like that. Some kind of- some kind of hate group."

"It wasn't-" Jace tried to explain, but Hodge cut him off.

"I doubt.," he said slowly. He obviously wasn't looking forward to discussing this. "that she had much of a choice."

Cary stared at Hodge, because she was thinking the same thing as he was. Everyone has a choice. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't she have a choice?"

"Because," Hodge said, "she was Valentine's wife."

* * *

**End of part one! Please review, I really love reading them! I get so excited when I see that I have one, so please! **


	10. Chapter 10: City of Bones

**Hey you guys! This is a super long chapter! It was actually originally separated into three parts, but it ended up messing everything up, so I changed it... enjoy though!**

CHAPTER 10: CITY OF BONES

* * *

Jace and Clary were staring at Hodge in disbelief. It took a moment for them to find their voices, and when they did they started shouting at the same time.

"Valentine had a wife? He was _married_? I thought-"

Clary got up from the couch and started to yell, "That's impossible! My mother would never- she was only ever married to my father! She didn't have an ex-husband!"

Hodge raised his hands, actually looking scared of them. "Children-"

"I'm not a child," Clary said as she spun around. "And I don't want to hear anymore."

"Clary," Hodge said. He said it in a kind way that it made Jace feel sorry for him. But at the same time, why would he not tell Jace about this? The fact that Valentine was married was a huge deal! Clary was staring at Hodge. As she examined Hodge, Jace examined her. Her red curls fell just in the crease of her elbow and her arms were shaking. Her lips were quivering and he could tell he wanted to cry. But she wouldn't, he knew she wouldn't.

"My mother wouldn't-" Clary started, but she suddenly got a look of realization on her face. Jace now knew her mother might not be able to be trusted, but did she?

"You're mother left the Circle," said Hodge. "Once we realized how extreme Valentine's views had become- once we knew what he was prepared to do- many of us left. Lucian was the first to leave. That was a blow to Valentine. They had been very close." Hodge shook his head. "Then Michael Wayland. Your father, Jace."

Jace raised his eyebrows. His father was with Valentine? How was it possible that someone he had loved, lied to him? His couldn't have told him? But then again, Hodge never told him, and Jocelyn never told Clary.

"There were those that stayed loyal. Pangborn. Blackwell. The Lightwoods-"

"The Lightwoods? You mean Robert and Mayrse?" Jace was about to pass out. This could not be happening. "What about you? When did you leave?"

"I didn't," said Hodge softly. "Neither did they... We were afraid, too afraid of what we might do. After the Uprising the loyalists like Blackwell and Pangborn fled. We stayed and cooperated with the Clave. Gave them names. Helped them track down the ones who had ran away. For that we received clemency."

"Clemency?" Jace was just now reminded of Hodge's curse.

"You are thinking of the curse that binds me here, aren't you? You always assumed it was a vengeance spell cast by an angry demon or warlock. I let you think it. But it is not the truth. The curse that binds me was cast by the Clave."

"For being in the Circle?" Jace asked, astonished.

"For not leaving it before the Uprising."

"But the Lightwoods weren't punished," Clary popped in. "Why not? They did the same thing you'd done."

Hodge's face was turning a grayish color and Jace knew that he didn't think it was all that fair either. "There were extenuating circumstances in their case- they were married, they had a child. Although it is not as if they reside in this outpost, far from home, by their own choice. We were banished here, the three of us- the four of us, I should say; Alec was a squalling baby when we left the Glass City. They can return to Idris on official business only, and then only for short times. I can never return. I will never see the Glass City again."

Jace stared at him for a long time. This was too much. He had known Hodge for seven years, and all this information piled on him now, was making Jace tired. "The Law is hard, but it is the Law." he said finally.

"I taught you that," said Hodge. You could hear the smile in his voice. "And now you turn my lessons back at me. Rightly too." He was embarrassed, as he should be. But he was sitting straight and tall.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Clary asked. "That my mother was married to Valentine. You knew her name-"

'I knew her as Jocelyn Fairchild, not Jocelyn Fray," said Hodge. "And you were so insistent on her ignorance of the Shadow World, you convinced me it could not be the Jocelyn I knew- and perhaps I did not want to believe it. No one would wish for Valentine's return." He shook his head again. "When I sent for the Brothers of the Bone City this morning, I had no idea just what news we would have for them," he said. "When the Clave finds out Valentine might have returned, that he is seeking the Cup, there will be an uproar. I can only hope it does not disrupt the Accords."

"I bet Valentine would like that," Jace said. "But why does he want to Cup so badly?"

Hodge looked at him as if that was the most stupid question he had ever heard. "Isn't that obvious?" he said. "So he can build himself an army."

Jace flinched. "But that would never-"

"Dinnertime!" Isabelle was at the door of the library, spoon in hand. _Oh, no_. "Sorry if I'm interrupting," she added.

"Dear God," said Jace, "the dread hour is nigh."

Hodge had to come up with a quick excuse. They always did this when Izzy decided to cook. "I-I-I had a very filling breakfast," he stammered. "I mean lunch. A filling lunch. I couldn't possibly eat-"

"I threw out the soup," she said, rolling her eyes. Jace got excited. "And ordered Chinese food from that place downtown."

Jace stood up and stretched. "Great. I'm starved."

"I might be able to eat a bite," Hodge admitted, Jace smiled at him.

"You two are terrible liars," said Izzy, offended. "Look, I know you don't like my cooking-"

"So stop doing it," he said putting a hand on her shoulder while giving her what he thought was amazing advice. "Did you order mu shu pork? You know I love mu shu pork."

She muttered something under her breath and said, "Yes. It's in the kitchen."

"Awesome." Jace ducked past her and ruffled her hair, because he knew she hated that. Hodge and him raced to the kitchen.

"You're going to tell Izzy and Alec, right?" Jace asked Hodge.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. I am so sorry I kept this from you, I just never forgave myself."

"I can see why not."

* * *

The kitchen smelled like Chinese food now, and Isabelle's soup was really gone, which made Jace awkwardly jump in happiness. He got strange when he was hungry. They all sat down with their food. Him with his mu shu pork, Clary with her noodles. He sat diagonal from her and dug in. They told Isabelle and Alec about that Circle. No one said anything for a while, but Isabelle finally chimed in.

"Well, I think it's kind of romantic," she said taking a sip of whatever she was drinking.

"What is?" asked Simon. Jace chuckled.

"That whole business with Clary's mother being married to Valentine," said Isabelle. "So he's back from the dead and he's come looking for her. Maybe he wants to get back together."

"I doubt he sent a Ravener demon to her house because he wanted to 'get back together,'" said Alec, who was sitting next to Jace. He was across from Clary and was avoiding looking at her. He wondered if he liked her. Sometimes guys act mean to girls they liked, he knew. But he doubted it.

"It wouldn't be my move," Jace finally agreed. "First the candy and flowers, then apology letters, _then_ the ravenous demon hordes. In that order."

"He might have sent her candy and flowers," Isabelle said. "We don't know."

"Isabelle," Hodge said patiently, "this is the man who rained down destruction on Idris the like of which it had never seen, who set Shadowhunter against Downworlder and make the streets of the Glass City run with blood."

Isabelle's expression stayed the same. "That's sort of hot," she argued, "that evil thing."

Simon tried to look menacing, which Jace thought was hilarious because that weasel boy would never be able to be evil. Clary looked at him and he gave it up. "So why does Valentine want this Cup so bad, and why does he think Clary's mom has it?" he asked.

""You said it was so he could make an army," Clary said to Hodge. "You mean because you can use this Cup to make Shadowhunters?"

"Yes."

Simon seemed to like that idea. Typical. "So Valentine could just walk up to any guy on the street and make a Shadowhunter out of him? Just with the Cup?" He leaned forward as if trying to make this next question private. "Would it work on me?"

Hodge looked at him, and probably wondered why he would ever want to be in a world like this. He hadn't had the best experience as a Shadowhunter, apparently. "Possibly," he said. "But most likely, you're too old. The Cup works on children. An adult would either be unaffected by the process entirely, or killed outright."

"A child army," Isabelle said in a soft, questionable voice.

"Only for a few years," said Jace. "Kids grow up fast. It wouldn't be too long before they were a force to contend with."

"I don't know," said the weasel. "Turning a bunch of kids into warriors, I've heard of worse stuff happening. I don't see the big deal about keeping the Cup away from him." Jace stopped eating and slowly put down his food. He stared at Simon and was about to scream at him until his Chinese food breath was too much for him to handle. But Hodge spoke first.

"Leaving out that he would inevitably use this army to launch an attack on the Clave," Hodge said dryly, "the reason only a few humans are selected to be turned into Nephilim is that most would never survive the transition. It takes special strength and resilience. Before they can be turned, they must be extensively tested- but Valentine would never bother with that. He would use the Cup on any child he could capture, and cull out the twenty percent who survived to be his army."

Jace was getting hot. Sweat matted to his forehead. He looked at his parabatai, whose reaction was similar. "How do you know he'd do that?" Alec asked.

"Because," Hodge said, obviously getting tired of explaining, "when he was in the Circle, that was his plan. He said it was the only way to build the kind of force that was need to defend our world."

"But that's murder," said Isabelle, who was green, while Jace could feel he was turning red. "He was talking about killing children."

"He said we had made the world safe for humans for a thousand years," said Hodge, "and now was their time repay us with their own sacrifice."

"Their _children?_" Jace demanded. His father was a part of this group. His father was about to help Valentine sacrifice innocent children for their own stupid, selfish reasons. Is that what he want him to be like? "That goes against everything we're supposed to be about. Protecting the helpless, safeguarding humanity-"

Hodge pushed his plate away. "Valentine was insane," he said, stating the obvious, Jace thought but kept silent. "Brilliant, but insane. He cared about nothing but killing demons and Downworlders. Nothing but making the world pure. He would have sacrificed his own son for the cause and could not understand why anyone else could not." This made Jace freeze. _Son?_

"He had a son?" Alec asked, taking the words right out of Jace's mouth.

"I was speaking figuratively," Hodge said. Jace looked over at Clary, who was looking at Hodge as if he had to tell her more. Her gorgeous red hair fell perfectly over her shoulders and she almost looked at him, he thought, but he was probably imagining it. Hodge continued to speak. "When his land burned, when his home was destroyed, it was assumed that he had burned himself and the Cup to ashes rather than relinquishing either to the Clave. His bones were found in the ashes, along with the bones of his wife."

"But my mother lived," Clary said. "She didn't die in that fire."

"And neither, it seems now, did Valentine," said Hodge. "The Clave will not be pleased to have been fooled. But more importantly, they will want to secure the Cup. And more importantly than that, they will want to make sure Valentine does not."

"It seems to me that the first thing we'd better do is find Clary's mother," he turned his head to her for just a second, than back to Hodge. "Find her, find the Cup, get it before Valentine does."

Clary nodded, but Hodge didn't seem to like that idea. "Absolutely not."

"Then what do we do?" Jace saw nothing wrong with his plan. First of all, it made perfect sense to him, and it would bring Clary and her mom together. He knew what it was like to lose a parent, and does not want her to go through the same pain.

"Nothing," Hodge said. "All this is best left to the skilled, experienced Shadowhunters."

"I am skilled," Jace protested, his voice strong and powerful, even in his own ears. "I _am_ experienced."

Hodge got into his freaky parent mode he got when he just wanted everyone to shut up. "I know that you are, but you're still a child, or nearly one."

He hated that. Being called a child. From the looks of it, he can do ten times what Hodge can do, plus the strengths that he has taught him. He could do things no other Shadowhunter could, he believed that. But most of all, he was not scared, which would be what most people's weak spots would be. He was fearless. "I am _not_ a child."

"Hodge is right," said Alec. Alec always had a more mature, parental side to him. He went by the rules, never tried to branch out. He couldn't call him a coward, though. He was brave... in different ways. "Valentine is dangerous. I know you're a good Shadowhunter. You're probably the best our age. But Valentine's one of the best there ever was. It took a huge battle to bring him down."

"And he didn't exactly stay down," said Isabelle. "Apparently."

"But we're here," said Jace. "We're and because of the Accords, nobody else is. If we don't do something-"

"We are going to do something," said Hodge. "I'll send the Clave a message tonight. They could have a force of Nephilim here by tomorrow if they wanted. They'll take care of this. You have done more than enough."

Jace shook his head, and sighed. "I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it," said Alec. "You just have to shut up and not do anything stupid." Oh the wise words of Alec.

"But what about my mother?" Clary demanded, getting red. "She can't wait for some representative from the Clave to show up. Valentine has her right now- Pangborn and Blackwell said so- and he could be..." she trailed off and Jace knew what she meant. He looked down and tried not to feel too bad for her. She probably doesn't want that.

Simon spoke up. "Hurting her," he said, finishing her sentence. "Except, Clary, they also said she was unconscious and that Valentine wasn't happy about it. He seems to be waiting for her to wake up." Weasel boy found something useful to say.

"I'd stay unconscious if I were her," Isabelle muttered to herself.

"But that could be any time," Clary said, completely ignoring Isabelle. "I thought the Clave was pledged to protect people. Shouldn't there be Shadowhunters here right now? Shouldn't they already be searching for her?"

"That would be easier," Alec snapped. Jace gave him a look that told him to back off. "If we had the slightest idea where to look."

The wheels in Jace's head were turning nonstop the whole time. He finally found the solution. So simple. "But we do," he said.

"You do?" Clary looked at him, her eyes wide, and he could tell she was about to beg him.

_Here goes nothing,_ He thought. "Here." He leaned forward and touched his fingers to the side of her temple. Her skin was warming under his touch and he was looking straight into those beautiful green eyes of hers, and he just lost it. He brought his hand down. "Everything we need to know is locked up in your head, under those pretty red curls." He couldn't believe himself. He never spoke like this, never said exactly what was on his mind before.

She reached up to touch her hair, and he thought he saw a tiny smile play her lips, just possibly. "I don't think-"

"So what are you going to do?" Simon cut in, looking angry. Jace liked that. "Cut her head open to get at it?"

_Yes, mundane. I'm going to cute her open._ He looked up at him and calmly said, "Not at all. The Silent Brothers can help her retrieve her memories."

"You _hate_ the Silent Brothers," protested Isabelle.

"I don't hate them," said Jace. "I'm afraid of them. It's not the same thing." He admitted. They were freaky, and he isn't usually the spooked type.

"I thought you said they were librarians," said Clary, questioningly.

"They are librarians."

Simon whistled, obviously mocking him. "Must be some killer late fees."

"The Silent Brothers are archivists, but that is not all they are," Hodge interrupted. He was definently tired of the bickering and wanted to explain this as quick as he could. "In order to strengthen their minds, they have chosen to take upon themselves some of the most powerful runes ever created. The power of these runes is so great that the use of them-" He broke off for a second. Clary's face turned pale white. "Well, it warps and twists their physical forms. They are not warriors in the sense that other Shadowhunters are warriors. Their powers are of the mind, not the body."

"They can read minds?" Clary said, she sounded frightened.

"Among other things. They are among the most feared of all demon hunters."

"I don't know," Simon said. "It doesn't sound so bad to me. I'd rather have someone mess around inside my head than chop it off."

By the Angel. "Then you're a bigger idiot than you look," said Jace, getting ready to dropkick him out the Institute.

"Jace is right," said Isabelle, ignoring Simon. "The Silent Brothers _are_ really creepy."

Hodge looked offended by that comment. He clenched his fist over the table. "They are very powerful," he said. "They walk in darkness and do not speak, but they can crack open a man's mind the way you might crack open a walnut- and leave him screaming alone in the dark if that is what they desire."

Clary looked at Jace, her eyes wide, filled with horror and fear. "You want to give me to _them?_" she said, her voice cracking.

"I want them to _help_you." Jace leaned across the table and forgot that anyone else was sitting there. Just him and Clary. He looked into her big, green eyes and whispered softly to her. "Maybe we don't find the Cup," he said, a flush creeping up her cheeks. "Maybe the Clave will do that. But what's in your mind belongs to you. Someone's hidden secrets there, secrets you can't see. Don't you want to know the truth about your own life?"

"I don't want someone else in my head," she said weakly. She was close to tears now. He wanted nothing else but to reach over the table and hold her hand. But he was afraid. What would she think? Would she pull away? He came back to reality.

"I'll go with you," said Jace. "I'll stay with you while you do it."

"That's enough," Simon stood up from the table, his face red with anger and jealousy. Not that Jace had anything to worry about. Simon has boyish charm, but he was also, as said many times already, quite annoying. "Leave her alone."

Alec glanced over at Simon, brushed his hair out of his eyes, and said, "What are you still doing here, mundane?" And this is why Jace loves Alec.

Not that Simon cared. "I said, leave her alone."

Clary looked at Simon as if telling him to back off, which was quite appropriate, considering he was about to kick him out. Jace turned over, played a small, sweet smile on his face and stared at Simon. "Alec is right," he said. "The Institute is sworn to shelter Shadowhunters, not their mundane friends. Especially when they've worn out their welcome." As if he were ever welcome. Jace looked at Isabelle and cocked his head toward Simon.

She took his arm. "I'll show him out." Simon looked at Clary, who shook her head slightly. he headed out of the room with Izzy.

When they were gone, Clary stood up. "I'm tired," she said. "I want to go to sleep."

Jace held out his hand for her. "You've hardly eaten anything-"

"I'm not hungry." she said, brushing past his hand.

She walked out of the kitchen, sending Jace backward against his chair.

"Does she know where she is going?" Alec asked, pointing at the door.

"I'll meet with her in a minute," Hodge began.

"No," said Jace. "I'll do it. Oh, Hodge?"

"Yes?"

It took a second for him to process what he was going to say. "Are you going to contact the Silent Brothers? Because... that is the only way I can think of to get her mind unblocked."

"Possibly, it would be very useful to see what is inside that brain of hers." Hodge said, sounding as if Jace just woke him up from his afternoon nap.

"Have you ever thought that maybe we could do this for her? Not for us? She'll tell us if she wants to, but it's not fair for her not to know what was meant for her to know." Jace could feel himself getting angry. Maybe he should check into an anger management class or something. But more on that later.

Alec spoke up. "What if we can't trust her? The world doesn't revolve around her, Jace. She's not all we think about, okay?" Alec looked... embarrassed?

Jace looked at the both of them, than ran out the door.

* * *

He was walking down the hallway to his room, when he heard a snore. He looked across the hall, and saw a sleeping Clary on the floor. Jace laughed and picked her up.

There were tons of empty rooms in this place, but he decided it would be best to keep her on this floor with him. She stirred in his arms and rested her head on his chest. This felt right. Like it was normal, but his heart was beating a million times a minute, so abnormal at the same time.

"Sh." he bent down and whispered in her ear. "Everything going to be fine Clary. We're going to help you. We're going to find your mother, and everything will be okay." He brushed a red curl and let it fall, dangling below her. Jace found a room and opened the door. It looked like all of the other rooms, big and open. There was a T.V. in the corner and a bathroom across from her bed. He placed her on the soft mattress gently. As he walked out the door, he looked back at her... and wondered if he were going crazy. He closed the door quietly and walked over to his own room in a daze.

He stepped into the room that looked like Clary's, but full of stuff. It was very neat, though. Jace didn't do dirty. Everything had a place. He walked over to the bathroom and stood over the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. He looked the same. Except for his eyes. they were pained. And crazed, like if he couldn't have her, everything would crumble. They walls he spent years building. Everything..

He fell asleep almost instantly. But it wasn't a good sleep, it was like every nightmare he had ever had in his life, squished into one. It was dizzying, so he woke up. He sat in the chair that was in the corner of his room. He grabbed a book and started to read it. He didn't know what book, because he was't paying attention. He just sat there with a book in his hand, thinking about everything. From Clary to his father to his dream. He finally fell asleep in the chair.

* * *

"Wake up, Jace. Wake up." Jace opened his eyes to see Hodge staring down at him. "I need you to wake up Clary. The Silent Brothers are here to see her."

Jace rubbed his eyes and groggily gave Hodge a very unpleasant look. "Now?" He said, his voice scratchy.

"Unless you would prefer me to do it," replied Hodge. "This was the only time he could come." He. Jeremiah.

"I'll do it." Hodge left the room to give him a minute.

He grabbed a T-shirt and Jeans out of his dresser and slipped them on. He walked into the bedroom and tried to fix his golden hair, but gave up on it. He still looked fantastic.

As he walked out the door, he started to walk the wrong way. Realizing his mistake, he turned around and leaned against the wall for a while. He had to wake up or he was going to walk Clary down to the Silent Brother and pass out. He pinched himself a couple times. Than he decided to suck it up and try to stay awake.

He walked into Clary's room, and she was moving. "Clary?" Jace said suddenly awake. He walked over to the bed and heard her muttering about who knows what, and twisting and turning.

"Jeez, Clary." He walked to the other side and she accidentally (he hoped) hit him. He grabbed her wrists. "Wake up, Clary," he said. "Wake up. Wake up."

She bolted upright, gasping and sweating. Looks like she was having a nightmare. She tried to pull away from him, and then looked at him. "Jace?"

"Yeah." He said. She was staring at him with a questioned look on her face.

"Let go of me."

"Sorry." He let go of her hands. "You tried to hit me the second I said your name."

"I'm a little jumpy, I guess." Yeah, that's an understatement. She was looking at the room in awe. "How did I get here? I don't remember..."

"I found you asleep in the hallway." Jace had to think of some story. He did not want to tell her what happened last night. "Hodge helped me get you into bed," he lied. "Thought you'd be more comfortable in a guest room than i the infirmary."

"Wow. I don't remember anything." She ran her hand through her hair, and he was relieved she didn't remember anything. It would be too weird. "What time is it, anyway?"

"About five."

"In the _morning_?"she glared at him the same way he glared at Hodge. "You'd better have a good reason for waking me up."

"Why, were you having a good dream?"

She blushed and said, "I don't remember."

He stood up and stretched real quick. "One of the Silent Brothers is hear to see you. Hodge sent me to wake you. Actually, he offered to wake you up himself, but since it's five a.m., I figured you'd be less cranky if you had something nice to look at."

"Meaning you?"

"What else?"

She shook her head. "I didn't agree to this, you know," she snapped. "This Silent Brother thing."

"Do you want to find your mother," he said, "or not?"

He knew that caught her attention. She was staring at him

"You just have to meet Brother Jeremiah. That's all. You might even like him. He's got a great sense of humor for a guy who never says anything."

She put her head in her hands. Jace just kind of stood there awkwardly. "Get out. Get out so I can change." He chuckled at her and closed the door behind him as he left.

He stood in the hallway and church came to join him. "Hey, Church." Jace said bending down to pet him. Church hated the Silent Brothers, so he always went prancing to Jace. Clary came out of her room about five minutes later dressed in cutoffs and a black t-shirt. Freckles dusted her thin legs and she had her red curls pulled up into a ponytail. Jace wanted her to pull out the hair tie, but the ponytail would actually be easier on her, considering that when the Silent Brothers went into her head, she would for sure sweat with fear and pain. Better to get it out of the way.

Church was circling Jace. "What's with the cat?" Clary asked.

"The Silent Brothers make him nervous."

"Sounds like they make everyone nervous."

Jace smiled at her, apologetically. He would hate to be in her shoes. Having someone dig through her brain probably won't be the highlight of her day. Church meowed as Jace and Clary started down the stairs, but he stayed in place. He felt Clary shiver beside him. It was kind of cold in the hallway.

They reached the cold, dark library. The only lights that were on were coming through the windows, but it was only a glow. Hodge was, as usual, behind his desk in a gray suit. Brother Jeremiah was not seen at first, but his figure stepped out of the darkness and came to face them. His robe covered his entire body, including his face because the hood was covering it. The robe was a light color, which had black runes all over it. When Jace first heard of the Silent Brothers, he thought the robes would be black, that those would look a lot more powerful. But now that Jace thought about it, these suited them perfectly. Okay, he was nervous if he was thinking about the color of the robes.

Clary tensed and he couldn't blame her.

"This," said Hodge, acting like he was about to introduce them to his great aunt. "is Brother Jeremiah of the Silent City."

As he started to walked toward them, Jace was, as always, startled by the silence. He had no foot steps. His robes didn't rustle. Nothing.

"And this, Jeremiah," Hodge said, standing up, "is the girl I wrote to you about. Clarissa Fray."

Jeremiah's hood moved slowly. It was really creepy. His head moved until it reached Clary. She gulped. "Hello," she said. Jace wasn't sure if he said anything because Silent Brothers speak with their minds, so if he wanted to say something in front of them all, it would be a creepy whisper that they could all hear. But if he wanted one person to hear something, he could speak into their mind, so only they can hear.

"I decided that you were right, Jace." said Hodge.

"I _was_ right," said Jace. "I usually am. "

And, as always, Hodge ignores this. "I sent a letter to the Clave about all this last night, but Clary's memories are her own. Only she can decide how she wants to deal with the contents of her own head. If she wants the help of the Silent Brothers, she should have that choice."

Clary said nothing. Jace knew she doesn't want to do it. But something was blocking her from important information about who she is. It could have something to do with her mother and why she didn't have the sight until now, or anything. Jace tried to quickly think of an alternative for her, but there was none. This was the only way to unblock her head.

_This is Jocelyn's daughter?_ Jeremiah spoke... kind of.

Clary jumped back at the sound and gasped. She looked dizzy.

"Yes," said Hodge. "but her father was a mundane."

_That does not matter, _said Jeremiah. _The blood of the Clave is dominant._

"Why did you call my mother Jocelyn?" said Clary, her voice was actually very stern and confident, although she seemed to be terrified. "Did you know her?"

"The Brothers keep records of all members of the Clave," explained Hodge. "Exhaustive records-"

"Not that exhaustive," Jace interrupted, "if they didn't even know she was still alive."

_It is likely that she had the assistance of a warlock in her disappearance. Most Shadowhunters cannot so easily escape the Clave. _Everything he said was in monotone.

"There's something I don't understand," Clary said. "Why would Valentine think my mom had the Mortal Cup? If she went through so much trouble to disappear, like you said, then why would she bring it with her?"

"To keep him from getting his hands on it," said Hodge. "She above all people would have known what would happen if Valentine had the Cup. And I imagine she didn't trust the Clave to hold on to it. Not after Valentine got it away from them in the first place."

"I guess." She sounded doubtful. Jace wondered, and he was sure Hodge was wondering,too, if they were ever going to be able to break this spell her mother has on her. Clary obviously has to start to believe that her mother was not who she said she was.

"Jocelyn turned against her husband when she found out what he intended to do with the Cup," said Hodge. "It's not unreasonable to assume she would do everything in her power to keep the Cup from falling into his hands. The Clave themselves would have looked first to her if they'd thought she was still alive."

"It seems to me," Clary said, sounding angry, "that no one the Clave thinks is dead, is ever actually dead. Maybe they should invest in dental records."

"My father's dead," Jace said, zoned out and firmly upset. "I don't need dental records to tell me that."

She turned to him and looked shocked. "Look, I didn't mean-"

_That is enough, _interrupted Brother Jeremiah. Good thing, too. Jace was not in the mood for arguing. _There is truth to be learned here, if you are patient enough to listen to it._

And then Jeremiah did what Jace was not looking forward to. He took his hood off. He was bald and so white, he could be Snow White's brother. Clary tensed and let out a tiny cry that only he could hear, because he was so close to her. They did not have eyes, at least, not visible. They were like dark indents. His lips looked like they were surgically removed and stitched up.

_The Brothers of the Silent City do not lie, _said Jeremiah. _If you want the truth in me, you shall have it, but I shall ask of you the same in return._

Clary lifted her chin up and bravely said, "I'm not a liar either."

_The mind cannot lie._ He moved toward her and Jace's heart started to speed in pace. _It is your memories I want._

Jace tried to stay calm as Jeremiah was about to begin. Clary was panicking, which would make things ten times worse. "Wait-" Clary began.

"Clary." Hodge said gently. "It's entirely possible that there are memories you have buried or repressed, memories formed when you were too young to have a conscious recollection of them, that Brother Jeremiah can reach. It could help us a great deal."

Jace looked over at her and she was biting her lip. The fear in her eyes was undeniable.

"She doesn't have to do anything she doesn't want to do." Jace said, suddenly. "Does she?"

Clary spoke up quickly. "It's all right. I'll do it."

Jeremiah took a couple steps towards her, and she whispered something really quick to him. As far as he could tell, there was no reply. His long, white hands touched her face, which was paling. Jace was looking at her, trying to get her attention. Trying to make sure she knew she would be fine. She closed her eyes.

The next few minutes were unbearable. Her hands were clenched and her eyes shut tight. She looked like she were trying to move away from Brother Jeremiah, but she was held to him with chains. She was starting to crunch down as if there were weights piling on top of her. Her hair and shirt were slowly covering themselves in sweat. She gasped and started to shiver. Her fists were shaking and blood was dripping down from them.

"That's _enough_." Jace shouted at Jeremiah. He hated him for doing this to her. He hated himself even more for suggesting it. He just hoped that possibly, it worked. Clary's eyes opened in an instant. Jace didn't worry about hiding his fury or his concern. She was ghostly pale and her hands, now unclenched, were still bleeding, along with the tips of her fingernails.

"_Jace,_" Hodge said, stern and irritated.

"Look at her hands." He gestured toward her, and she curled her fingers inward, covering her palms.

Hodge walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

She slowly nodded and Jace hoped no serious damage had occurred. Jeremiah would pay for that.

Suddenly, Jeremiah started to speak. _There is a block in your mind. Your memories cannot be reached._

"A block?" asked Jace, raising to a shout. "You mean she's repressed her memories?"

_No. I mean they have been blocked by her conscious mind by a spell. I cannot break it here. She will have to come to the Bone City and stand before the Brotherhood._

"A _spell?_" said Clary. "Who would have put a spell on me?"

They all sat there quiet. Clary cannot visit the City of Bones. Not now. Not after was just happened. It was just going to get worse. What if she knew the person who put a spell on her? Jace looked at Hodge, who was looking at Clary. Jace opened his mouth for a second, but nothing came out. He tried again and said, "Hodge, she shouldn't have to go if she doesn't-"

"It's all right." Clary said, taking a deep breath. Her voice shook, but she stood strong without fear. "I'll go. I want to know the truth. I want to know what's in my head."

Jace nodded. "Fine. Then I'll go with you."

* * *

Gross. It was a humid and hot outside. Jace was still in shock, but mostly he was hungry. He would kill for some food. Clary sighed. "I don't see why we have to leave separately from Brother Jeremiah," she grumbled. They were standing at the corner of the Institute, looking like they were waiting for a taxi. "What, is he embarrassed to been seen with Shadowhunters or something?"

"The Brotherhood _are_ Shadowhunters," Jace said. Clary glared at him, but he didn't know why.

"I suppose he went to get his car?" she said sarcastically.

Jace smiled. "Something like that."

She shook her head and pursed her lips. "You know, I'd feel a lot better about this if Hodge had come with us."

Jace frowned. "What, I'm not enough protection for you?"

"It's not protection I need right now- it's someone who can help me think." Her eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh- Simon!"

"No, I'm Jace," Jace shuddered at the thought of Simon. "Simon is the weaselly little one with the bad haircut and dismal fashion sense." he said, feeling much better bashing him.

"Oh, shut up," she replied, but she didn't sound really bothered. "I meant to call before I went to sleep. See if he got home okay."

Jace shook his head. _What the hell is wrong with her? _"With everything that's going on, you're worried about Weasel Face?"

"Don't call him that. He doesn't look like a weasel."

"You may be right," said Jace. "I've met and attractive weasel or two in my time. He looks more like a rat." Jace said thoughtfully.

"He does not-"

"He's probably at home lying in a puddle of his own drool. Just wait till Isabelle gets bored with him and you have to pick up the pieces."

Clary stared into the street. "Is Isabelle likely to get bored with him?"

Jace pondered on this for a moment. "Yes," he said. They sat in silence for a minute and they both were deep in thought. Finally Jace said, "You don't have to feel the need to go to him and fix everything though. He technically doesn't belong to you." He looked at her and she blinked suddenly. Jace grinned. She was lost in thought and didn't here a word he said.

"What?" she asked, blankly.

"I wish you'd stop desperately trying to get my attention like this," he said. "It's become embarrassing."

"Sarcasm is the last refuge of the imaginatively bankrupt," she informed him,

"I can't help it. I use my rapier wit to hide my inner pain."

"Your pain will be outer soon of you don't get out of traffic. Are you trying to get run over by a cab?"

Jace didn't even realize that he was practically in the street. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "We could never get a cab that easily in this neighborhood." At what seemed like the perfect timing, the Silent Brother's carriage arrived right in front of Jace. Clary had an awfully late reaction, probably because she didn't see through the glamour at first. Glamour off, and you see a long black car, almost like a limo.

She was examining the marvelous carriage as if it were a dream. It is probably a little strange seeing a carriage like this in New York. It's a velvet black color and looks evil in a way. In the front seat was Brother Jeremiah, waiting for them to get in. His face was covered with his robe and he sat there, silent as if he were dead. On the other side of the reigns were pitch black horses.

"Get in," said Jace. She ignored him and kept staring, mouth open. He grabbed her arm and pushed her in himself. He swung himself in behind her and fell back in his seat as the carriage began to move. Jace looked over at Clary. "A personal escort to the Bone City is nothing to turn your nose up at."

"I wasn't turning my nose up. I was just surprised. I wasn't expecting... I mean, I thought it was a car."

"Just relax," said Jace. "Enjoy that new-carriage smell." She rolled her eyes at him and looked out the window. He stared at her red hair. It was still in it;s ponytail, but as they were moving in the carriage, it bounced. Clary quietly gasped. She was worrying about the traffic. Jace had gotten used to it, but taxi drivers not seeing their carriage was kind of a downer. Instead of breaking, or stopping, the carriage just rode on top of any vehicle that was in it's way.

"I always thought taxi drivers didn't pay attention to traffic, but this is ridiculous." she said in a small voice.

"Just because you can see through the glamour now..." Jace said, leaving his words hanging in the air for her to pick up.

"I can only see through it when I concentrate," she said. "It hurts my head a little."

Jace's head was spinning. That made sense. "I bet that's because of the block in your mind. The Brothers will take care of that."

"Then what?" She clearly wish none of this had ever happened. Her eyes were glossy, like the tears were trying to come, but she wanted to stay strong.

"Then you will see the world as it is- infinite," said Jace, smiling at his use of poetry.

"Don't quote Blake at me."

He looked at her and smiled bigger. "I didn't think you'd recognize it. You don't strike me of someone who reads a lot of poetry."

"Everyone knows that quote because of the Doors."

Jace stared at her. The Doors?

"The Doors. They were a band."

If you say so," he said. He would have to introduce her to some real poetry. Not stuff she finds in music.

"I suppose you don't have much time for enjoying music," she sounded disappointed, as if music was a criteria that he had to have. "in your line of work"

He shrugged. "Maybe the occasional wailing chorus of the damned."

It was silent for a moment. What he said was true. Whenever he wanted to be alone there was always something terrible going on. Demon's high pitched squeals were almost all that he heard.

"But you were playing the piano yesterday," she began, "at the Institute. So you must-"

The carriage lurched upward onto a downtown Mt bus. They height they got up to was great. Jace loved heights. They were exhilarating.

"I was just messing around," Jace said, breaking the silence. "My father insisted I learn to play an instrument."

"He sounds strict, your father."

Jace felt defensive, and a little annoyed. "Not at all. He indulged me. He taught me everything- weapons training, demonology, arcane lore, ancient languages. He gave me anything I wanted, Horses, weapons, books, even a hunting falcon."

Clary raised her eyebrows and thinned her lips. "Why didn't you mention to Hodge that you knew the men that Luke was talking to? That they were the ones that killed your dad?"

Jace looked down at his hands and played with his silver Wayland ring. Thinking about his father's death could change his mood from ecstatic to depressed in two seconds. "Because if I did," he said slowly, "he'd know I wanted to kill Valentine myself. And he'd never let me try."

"You mean you want to kill him for revenge?" She asked him.

"For justice. I never knew who killed my father. Now I do. This is my chance to make it right."

Clary looked at him questioningly. "But you knew who killed him," she said. "It was those men. You said..."

She trailed off to be polite, he could tell. Most people do. Talking about his father was something he had tried to avoid with her. But he had experienced her mom's disappearance, it would be unfair to keep her out of his. He thought back to the day his father had died. From the command to the soaked shoes. Everything was coming back so fast. Jace prepared himself to tell her something he never told anyone else, in full detail.

"I was ten," he began. She looked at him, which seemed to make things worse. "We live in a manor house, out in the country. My father always said it was safer away from people. I heard them coming up the drive and went to tell him. He told me to hide, so I hid. Under the stairs. I saw those men come in. They had others with them. Not men. Forsaken. They overpowered my father and cut his throat. The blood ran across the floor. It soaked in my shoes. I didn't move." Jace had to hold back tears. The remembrance of the feeling of his shoes being soaked with his father's blood was too much. Everything seemed to go by in slow motion after that.

The silence was unbearable. He just wanted Clary to say something. Anything.

"I'm so sorry, Jace."

He half smiled. "I don't understand why mundanes always apologize for things that aren't their fault."

"It's not apologizing. It's a way of- empathizing. Of saying that I'm sorry you're unhappy." She said it in a sweet voice.

"I'm not unhappy," he said. "Only people with no purpose are unhappy. I've got a purpose."

"Do you mean killing demons, or getting revenge for your father's death?"

"Both."

"Would your father really want you to kill those men? Just for revenge?"

"A Shadowhunter who kills another of his brothers is worse than a demon and should be put down like one." He didn't quite understand where Clary was going with this. Trying to make him feel bad for wanting to kill Valentine and his minions?

"But are all demons evil?" she said. "I mean, if all vampires aren't evil, and all werewolves aren't evil, maybe-"

Jace was caught completely off guard. "It's not the same thing at all. Vampires, werewolves, even warlocks, they're part human. Part of this world, born in it. They belong here. But demons come from other worlds. They're interdimensional parasites. They come to a world and use it up. They can't build, just destroy- they can't make, only use. They drain a place to ashes and when it's dead, they move on to the next one. It's life they want- not just your life or mine, but all the life of this world, its rivers and cities, its oceans, its everything. And the only thing that stands between them and the destruction of all _this_" he said, gesturing out the window of the carriage. "is the Nephilim."

"Oh," Clary said shortly. He thought he might have scared her. "How many other worlds are there?"

"No one knows. Hundreds? Millions, maybe." he shrugged.

"And they're all- dead worlds? Used up?" She said, her voice cracking. "That seems so sad."

"I didn't say that." He could feel her stare on him. "There are probably other living worlds like ours. But only demons can travel between them. Because they're mostly noncorporeal, partly, but nobody knows exactly why. Plenty of warlocks have tried it, and it's never worked. Nothing from Earth can pass through the wardings between the worlds. If we could, we might be able to block them from coming here, but nobody's even been able to figure out how to do that. In fact, more and more of them are coming through. There used to be only small demon invasions into this world, easily contained. But even in my lifetime more and more of them have spilled in through the wardings. The Clave is always having to dispatch Shadowhunters, and a lot of times they don't come back."

Jace was surprised that Clary didn't fall asleep. "But if you had the Mortal Cup, you can make more, right? More demon hunters?" Clary asked.

"Sure," Jace said. "But we haven't had the cup for years now, and a lot of us die young. So our numbers slowly dwindle."

"Aren't you, uh..." Clary looked uncomfortable. "Reproducing?"

Jace could feel his mouth open wide and he started to laugh. All of a sudden the carriage took a sharp turn and Clary came flying toward him. He caught her, and awkwardly still laughed. He held her firmly, and tried to push her away. But he didn't want to. "Sure," he said. "We love reproducing. It's one of our favorite things."

Clary jerked away from him and sat back at her original spot. It was silent as Jace turned to look out the window. He saw the familiar iron gate that was delicately designed with vines. "We're here."

Seeing the Bone City again was something that Jace was not looking forward to. It was very creepy, though he wasn't scared. Uncomfortable, though, and the dark, gloomy look to it gave him headaches. Of course, he wasn't even seeing the city itself yet. Just the graveyard it is hidden in. As they were turning in, the carriage was shaking due to the cobblestones under the wheels. Jace looked up at the sign that read YORK CITY MARBLE CEMETERY.

"But they stopped burying people in Manhattan a century ago because they ran out of room- didn't they?" Clary said, confused. The carriage was still slowly driving on cobblestones.

"The Bone City has been here longer than that." Jace said, matter of factly. The carriage stopped suddenly and Jace reached passed Clary to open her door. She tensed as his arm stretched across her small body.

"You don't get a choice, do you?" she asked. "About being a Shadowhunter. You can't just opt out."

"No," he said. He swung the door open as he thought of her question. "But if I had a choice, this is what I'd choose."

"Why?" she asked.

Jace raised his eyebrow at her and she grimaced. "Because," he said shortly,. "It's what I'm good at."

Jace jumped from the carriage and watched Clary attempt her jump. Her feet were dangling and he was just about to hold his hand out when she jumped down. She turned around to look at him. "I would have helped you down," he said.

She blinked, looking surprised at his offer. "It's okay. You didn't have to."

He looked behind him climb silently down from the carriage. There was a shadow on the ground, but no impact hit it as he stepped down.

_Come,_ he said. He started to walk without looking back to see if they would follow. That't the thing with the Silent Brothers. Nobody disobeys. If he says come, then you come, no matter what. They followed after him.

Jace was behind Jeremiah, as he glided around the graveyard. Jace tried to look at the bottom of his robes, like he has every single time he sees him. Nope, he didn't see any feet. Jeremiah stopped in front of a statue of a giant angel holding a cup, slightly taller than Jeremiah himself. All of a sudden, something ran into the back of him. It sent an electric shock through his body as Clary yelped in shock. That something was her.

"Don't screech like that. You'll wake the dead."

She frowned at him. "Why are we stopping?"

He pointed at the Brother and the statue. The three of them continued to stare at the beautiful marble artistry of the angel. Inscribed in the base was a date, 1234, and writing. NEPHILIM: FACILIS DESCENSUS AVERNI.

"Is that supposed to be the Mortal Cup?" Clary asked, pointing at the cup in the angels hands.

Jace nodded. "And that's the motto of the Nephilim- the Shadowhunters- there on the base."

"What does it mean?"

Jace grinned at the joke playing on his lips. "It means 'Shadowhunters: Looking Better in Black Than Widows of our Enemies Since 1234."

Clary grimaced at him. "Jace-"

_It means, _said Jeremiah, _The descent into Hell is easy._

"Nice and cheery," Clary said, and Jace laughed.

"It's the Brothers' little joke, having that here," Jace said, practically feeling Brother Jeremiah's disapproval. "You'll see."

Jeremiah was pulling out his stele, which was faintly glowing, making things a little easier to see. The sickly graveyard that a group of old Nephilim use as their secret layer. Nice. Jeremiah was tracing the rune on the base of the statue. The angel's mouth suddenly opened and stretched itself all the way to the ground. Inside the mouth was what looked like a huge black hole. Just darkness. He could sense that Clary would be hesitant to walk in, as she should be, She walked up to it and peered inside the pit of nothingness.

Jace walked up next to her to see the granite stairwell that faded as the went down. The hole lit up with torches, welcoming them inside.

Jace took his first steps and was halfway down the steps when he noticed an absent presence. He looked back up at Clary, still at the top of the stairs. "Come _on,_" he said, waiting for her.

Brother Jeremiah grabbed her wrist and led her downward, following him. By the time Jace got to the bottom of the stairs, Clary was rushing down toward him. He waited for her and grabbed the torch for extra light. She caught up to him. "You all right?"

She nodded, but she obviously wasn't. She was staring down the long tunnel in front of them and her eyes widened. "It's so... dark." She swallowed.

"You want me to hold your hand?" he said, in all seriousness.

She looked at him in astonishment and brought her hands behind her. "Don't talk down to me."

_I wasn't. _"Well, I could hardly talk _up_ to you. You're too short." He took a step forward and looked on down the long tunnel. "No need to stand on ceremony, Brother Jeremiah," he said. "Lead on. We'll be right behind you."

As Brother Jeremiah walked in front of them, Jace held his hand out to Clary and she knocked it out of the way as she walked.

* * *

The long tunnel had rows of tall marble arches that were way above their heads. The marble looked as if they had someone come and clean it every day. Who knows? There might be. The Nephilim are full of surprises. Though I doubt anyone would want to clean dead Shadowhunter-marble.

As they walked passed the first arch, Jace noticed Clary staring at something that looked like an iceberg. "It's a mausoleum," he said, flashing the torch light at it so she could see the rune. "A tomb. We bury our dead here."

"All your dead?" she asked, wincing. He thought of his father and wondered if he were somewhere near him. He hadn't died in battle, but to Jace, his death was heroic. That thought was sick, though, and if it were true, he certainly didn't want to know. "I thought you said this was a library."

_There are many levels to the Silent City, _Brother Jeremiah butted in. _And not all the dead are buried here. There is another ossuary in Idris, of course, much larger. But on this level are the mausoleums and the place of burning._

"The place of burning?"

_Those who die in battle are burned, their ashes used to make the marble arches that you see here. The blood and bone of the demon slayers is itself powerful protection against evil. Even in death, the Clave serves the cause._

Reaching a staircase, Jace thrust the torch in front, to make sure Clary saw where she was going. "We're going to the second level, where the archives and the council rooms are." He told her.

"Where are the living quarters?" Clary asked, and Jace furrowed his eyebrows. "Where do the Brothers sleep?"

_Sleep?_

Jace laughed and the torch shook, making the flames flicker almost like they were just about to burn out. "You had to ask."

When they reached the top of the stairs, they saw another tunnel. The City of Bones can be quite boring. But this tunnel widened out in a square, where each corner was marked with carved bone. More torches were lit on the sides of the square, bringing more light into the place. Jace looked at Clary examining the room as if she had just been thrown into a horror movie. She was frozen, besides her head which kept turning sides to look at every little thing possible. Than her eyes settled on the soul-sword. The sword that if you held it in your hands, you would be sworn to tell full truth. There was a full row of Silent Brothers seated at a table, and the were looking right at Clary.

Clary looked back at Jace with a questioning look, but he didn't understand what she was asking. He just sat there blinking like an idiot. She slowly turned back to the council.

There was a black square in the middle of the floor with a design made up of was called the Speaking Stars. Clary stepped on it and lifted her head up, clearly confused. "All right," she said, breaking the silence. "Now what?"

The Brothers made a strange sound that sounded like the beginning of murmur, but since they cut off short, it was more like a loud moan. In complete unison they reached their hands up and put down their cowls, revealing their hideous, hollowed out faces.

Silent Brothers must have been having an internal conversation with Clary, because Jace couldn't hear anything. He could see the way Clary held herself, though, and she held herself high, but at the same time she was trembling.

All of a sudden, Clary started to converse back. "Stop," she said, strong and full of power, like she had the say here. "You can go inside my head," she said, "but only when I'm ready."

"You want to know what's on my mind, just like I do," she spoke again. "That doesn't mean you can't be careful about it."

Jace saw Brother Jeremiah using his fingers to rub his bony chin gently as if he were thinking about something very hard. Jace's eye's drifted down to Clary's hands, which still had dry blood on them from earlier this morning. They started to clutch again, but this time he could tell it meant she was fearless, and she was going to be strong and go through with this.

"Go ahead."

It was silent at first. She seemed to be doing well, until they were a couple minutes into it, than she started to crumble. She was violently shaking, clenching and unclenching her hands over and over. She let out a faint cry, and it was everything Jace could do to keep himself from running up to hold her. She was now on the floor, her arm bleeding from where she fell and her chest rising and falling fast. Jace started to sweat. He took a step forward, but Brother Jeremiah put a hand up stopping him. Her eyes shot open and they were bloodshot. They got better as she blinked a couple times. Jace stayed still and his entire strength was used to hold his feet to the floor. She sat up and clutched her elbow, blood dripping from it. Her wrist was also bleeding from the fall. She looked at Jace and he nearly melted at the sight of her in so much pain.

The internal conversations started again and Clary immediately stood on her feet. "But I don't know who put it there. If I knew that, I wouldn't have come here."

Her eyes were slit with confusion. "Magnus Bane? But- that's not even a name!"

Jace tried to remember where he heard those words. Magnus Bane. It did sound familiar.

The Brothers stood up and nodded their heads at Jace as a sign of acknowledgement. Brother Jeremiah stayed put, and Jace ran over to Clary.

"Is your arm all right? Let me see," he said, looking at her bleeding wrist. He grabbed it and she tried to yank it back.

"Ouch! It's fine. Don't do that, you're making it worse," she said pulling again.

"You bled on the Speaking Stars," he said and she looked down. "I bet there's a law somewhere about that." He gently turned her arm over, examining it. He bit his lower lip and whistled to keep from saying what he wanted.

"Is this when you start tearing strips off your T-shirt to bind up my wound?" she joked, and he smiled.

"If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have just asked." He dug in his pocket for his stele, but kept his eyes on her. "It would have been a lot less painful."

She seemed to ignore that last comment while preparing herself for the sting that the stele would give her. She bit her lip while he drew the iratze on her.

"There," he said, feeling better himself. Clary flexed her arm, her mouth wide open. "And next time you're planning to injure yourself to get my attention, just remember that a little sweet talk works wonders."

Clary's mouth twitched into a smile, which Jace was happy about considering the usual response was rolled eyes or a grimace. "I'll keep that in mind," she said. He turned around to put his stele away and she said, "And thanks."

He couldn't meet her eyes, but he felt much more happy and his heart was pounding just by the way she was talking to him. "Brother Jeremiah," he said just remembering that he was listening to them the entire time. "you've been very quiet all this time. Surely you have some thoughts you'd like to share?"

_I am charged with leading you from the Silent City, and that is all,_ he said.

"We could always show ourselves out," Jace said, really not wanting an escort. "I'm sure I remember the way-"

_The marvels of the Silent City are not for the eyes of the uninitiated, _said Jeremiah, turning away from them. _This way._

When they left the large city, the air was humid and dark. "It's going to rain," Jace predicted to himself.

"Are we taking the carriage back to the Institute?"

Jace looked back at Brother Jeremiah and shook his head. "No way," he said. "I hate those things. Let's hail a cab."

* * *

**Hopefully that didn't bore you! I really love this chapter, so I hope you like it too! Review please!**


	11. Chapter 11: Magnus Bane

**Hey guys! This is one of my favorite chapters because this is wear I started to see the sweet, sensitive guy inside of Jace. I hope you guys enjoy. **

CHAPTER 11: MAGNUS BANE

* * *

Jace hates taxis. Every single driver he got couldn't drive. He banged his hand on the separating partition and yelled, "Turn left! Left! I said to take Broadway, you brain-dead moron!"

Jace held his hands out, ready to catch Clary when he jerked around the corner. She let out a yelp in surprise, but Jace was prepared. "Why are we taking Broadway, anyway?"

"I'm starving," Jace said. "And there's nothing at home except leftover Chinese." He remembered that he should probably discuss Clary's head issues with Isabelle and Alec, so he took out his phone and dialed his _parabatai's_ number. "Alec! Wake up!" he shouted. "Meet us at Taki's. Breakfast."

"...ugh?" Alec said, obviously still half asleep.

"Yeah, you heard me. Breakfast."

"Jace," he groaned.

"What? It's only a few blocks away. Get going." He put his phone away when the cab driver stopped exactly where he wanted him to. He handed him way more cash than he deserved, and elbowed Clary out of the car. He stretched wide, finally feeling relaxed after a long morning of being worried.

"Welcome to the greatest restaurant in New York."

Clary raised both her eyebrows at him as she examined the place. She turned back to him and grimaced. "It looks like a prison."

He pointed at her and smiled. "But in prison could you order a spaghetti _fra diavolo_ that makes you want to kiss your fingers? I don't _think_ so."

She didn't laugh. "I don't want spaghetti. I want to know what a Magnus Bane is."

Still trying to rack his brain, he does know it's a person. "It's not a what. It's a who," said Jace. "It's a name."

"Do you know who he is?"

"He's a warlock," said Jace, mostly using common sense. "Only a warlock could have put a block in your mind like that. Or maybe one of the Silent Brothers, but clearly it wasn't them."

Clary's hands clenched. "Is he a warlock you've _heard_ of?" She said, clearly tired of his nonchalant attitude.

"The name does sound familiar-"

"Hey!" Jace turned to see Alec, his jeans lumpy over his pajamas and his hair looking as if a bird laid eggs and died. "Izzy's on her way," he said. "She's bringing the mundane."

Jace made the best stink face he could. "Simon? Where did he come from?"

"He showed up first thing this morning. Couldn't stay away from Izzy, I guess. Pathetic." Jace nodded. "Anyway, are we going to eat or what? I'm starving."

"Me too," said Jace. "I could really go for some fried mouse tails." he joked.

"Some what?" Clary asked. Both her eyebrows were up and her mouth was twisted in a weird way.

Jace grinned. "Relax, it's just a diner."

He turned back to Alec. "So I think Izzy actually likes Simon," Alec said.

"Izzy? And... him? No. She's way too fierce for him." Jace said. Gossiping about her was him and Alec's thing. Since she was the only girl, besides Mayrse, in the Institute.

Jace let a recognizable man pass him.

_"Jace," _Clary hissed next to him. She seemed to be dazing off before, now she looked as pale as a ghost. "Who _was _that?" She asked, her eyes on the man Jace had let passed.

"You mean Clancy?" Jace asked, looking around to where he might have went. He started to walk and the two of them followed. He saw the blonde waitress that always served him. She waved at him, signaling to sit where ever. Her name was Kaelie. They always flirted with each other, because they were so much alike. Jace and her were never serious, but they just liked to play. Jace grabbed the booth right next to them and put his hand on Clary's back, guiding her to the booth. "Clancy keeps out undesirables." He said.

"He's a _demon,_" she hissed.

Jace smirked. "No, he isn't," he said, sliding into the booth. Alec sat next to him, cutting Clary off. She took the side in front of him, rubbing her arm like it was tense. "He's an ifrit," Jace continued. "They're warlocks with no magic. Half demons who can't cast spells for whatever reasons."

Alec shook his head, "Poor bastards," he said as he picked up his menu. They all did the same and thought about what they wanted. Jace looked for a while, but couldn't decide. He'll just wing it when the waitress asks for their meals.

"Who eats raw fish?" Clary spoke aloud.

"Kelpies," Alec said, actually talking to her without scowling or shouting. "Selkies. Maybe the occasional nixie." Jace was also certain that humans ate raw fish, too, but he hated sushi and didn't consider eating it right.

"Don't order any of the faerie food," Jace told her. She looked up from her menu and her green eyes could have blinded him. "It tends to make humans a little crazy. One minute your munching a faerie plum, the next minute your running naked on Madison Avenue with antlers on your head. Not," he said, realizing he said that out loud, "that this has ever happened to me."

Alec laughed at the memory. "Do you remember that one time when Max drank the faerie juice and his skin turned green? We had to write to the Clave that our little brother had turned green!" Jace remembered, and he smiled a little bit. But his mind wasn't in the moment. Magnus Bane. Why had the name sounded so familiar? Did he help him with one of his faerie drink problems? Warlocks do that a lot. But no. That wasn't him. Drinks. Thirsty.

"Are we ever going to get any coffee?" He purposely said while Kaelie was walking by.

He then realized he interrupted Alec's story. Alec's expression blanked. "I..."

"What's all the raw meat for?" Clary asked immediately.

"Werewolves," said Jace. "Though I don't mind a bloody steak myself every once in a while." He reached across the table and turned her menu over. "Human food is on the back."

Clary read it through and gasped. "They have _smoothies _here?"

"There's this apricot-plum smoothie with wildflower honey that's simply divine," said Isabelle, appearing out of nowhere with Simon at her side. Jace just wanted to puke at the sight of him. "Shove over," Izzy said to Clary who scooted right up to the wall. She tensed when Izzy and Simon pulled up next to her. "You should have one."

Clary's head turned to the side, not answering Isabelle. It was clear she was jealous. Isabelle has practically been baby sitting her little mundane friend.

"So how did it go at the Bone City?" Izzy asked, flipping her menu open. "Did you find out what's in Clary's head?"

"We got a name," said Jace. "Magnus-"

"Shut _up__," _Alec whispered ferociously at him. He picked up his menu, and thwacked Jace with it.

Jace grabbed his arm and mocked pain. "Jesus." He said, rubbing his arm. "What's your problem?"

"This place is full of Downworlders. You know that. I think you should try to keep the details of our investigation secret."

_"Investigation?" _Izzy laughed. "Now we're detectives? Maybe we should all have code names."

"Good idea," said Jace, rubbing his chin. "I shall be Hotschaft Von Hugenstein." he joked.

Alec spit his water back into his glass, making Jace grin. At that moment, Kaelie came over to take their order. Jace looked at her. He didn't consider her beautiful. She was a pretty face, but nothing more. He couldn't help looking at Clary for a split second, but turned back to look at the familiar blonde haired waitress. "Know what your having?"

Jace grinned at her. "The usual," as she smiled big smile back at him.

Alec coughed to get her attention. "Me too," he said, without receiving a smile. Izzy ordered her normal fruit smoothie and Simon ordered a black coffee. Clary kept looking at the menu. After a couple of seconds, she ordered coconut pancakes and a coffee, black as well. Kaelie winked at her and walked away.

"Is she an ifrit too?" Clary asked, her face not so pleasant with her as she walked away.

"Kaelie? No. Part fey, I think," Jace said.

"She's got nixie eyes," Isabelle said, while staring with wide eyes at nothing. Izzy often zoned out.

"You really don't know what she is?" Simon said, shocked.

Jace shook his head. "I respect her privacy." He nudged Alec. "Hey, let me out for a second."

Alec moved to the side, but he didn't seem happy about it. Wonder why.

Jace walked over to Kaelie at the bar. As he was close enough to her, she turned around and smiled, as he put his arm around her. "Hey beautiful," he teased. She cuddled into him.

"Hey."

He turned to look at her mass of blonde hair, but blonde isn't what he saw. Red. He shook his head and looked over to their booth. He could read their lips. Well, most of it actually. They were talking about Downworlders. He taught himself how to do that when he didn't want to listen to Hodge teaching them, so he just read what he was saying. He felt a pang of guilt as Kaelie lifted her head up and kissed him on the cheek.

"You know, your girlfriends' gonna get pissed if you lead on your waitress." She said, picking up her hand and messed up his hair.

"Who-" He followed Kaelie's gaze over to the booth. She knew that Izzy is more like a sister to him, so she meant Clary. "Oh. I just met her. Nothings going on." She said while squeezing her tighter, the pang in his chest getting more and more painful.

"That never stopped Jace Wayland from getting a girl." She said, smiling up at him.

Jace forced a laugh. "Yeah, I guess not."

"Well, I'm going to grab your food," She said giving him one last smile. He walked over to the booth.

"...you could never turn a Downworlder into one of the Clave. They can't withstand the runes." Alec was saying.

"So they're weak?" Clary asked.

"I wouldn't say that," Jace interfered as he slid into the booth next to Alec. Clary raised her eyebrows at him, probably at the lipstick. "At least not with a peri, a djinn, an ifrit and God knows what else listening in." Kaelie walked over to their table and brought their food. He smiled at her and she walked away. Jace looked down at his order of Spaghetti and fries. They looked magnificent. He looked over at Clary and her eyes widened after her first bite. She picked up her fork and quickly shoved another piece of her pancake in.

"I told you it was the greatest restaurant in Manhattan." He grabbed the perfectly cooked fries and popped two in his mouth. Delicious.

"Mmmf," Alec said, implying that he get on with the explanation. His mouth was full of what looked like some sort of meat.

"Right," he said, turning to Clary. "It's not one-way. We may not always like Downworlders, but they don't always like us, either. A few hundred years of the Accords can't wipe out a thousand years of hospitality."

"I'm sure she doesn't know what the Accords are, Jace." said Isabelle, using a spoon to get the chunks of her smoothie.

"I do, actually," retorted Clary, looking slightly offended by Izzy's statement. Jace hid back a smile.

"I don't," said Simon.

Jace rolled his eyes. "Yes, but nobody cares what you know." Jace said, looking at his fry to avoid the glare he knew Clary was giving him. "I enjoy the company of certain Downworlders at certain times and places," Jace said, remembering his moment with Kaelie, and shuddered. "But we don't really get invited to the same parties."

"Wait." Izzy looked alarmed. She let go of her spoon and looked straight at Jace. "What did you say that name was?" she demanded. "The name in Clary's head?"

"i didn't," Jace said. "At least, I didn't finish it. It's Magnus Bane." He grinned at Alec."Rhymes with 'overcareful pain in the ass.'" he said, referring to when Alec refused to let him say the name out loud.

Alec muttered something in his coffee, but he couldn't hear what it was.

Izzy was frantic. "It can't be- but I'm totally sure-" she dug through her purse until she found a piece of folded blue paper. She paled and showed them the paper. "Look at _this."_

Alec grabbed it, shrugged, and than handed it to Jace. "It's a party invitation. For somewhere in Brooklyn." Alec said. "I hate Brooklyn."

"Don't be such a snob," said Jace. He picked up the invitation and read:

**YOU ARE INVITED!**

**A GATHERING WILL BE HELD AT THE HUMBLE HOME**

**OF MAGNUS THE MAGNIFICENT WARLOCK. ATTENDEES **

**WILL HAVE A RAPTUROUS EVENING OF DELIGHTS BEYOND**

**YOUR WILDEST IMAGINATIONS.**

**WISHING YOU ALL THE BEST,**

**THE HIGH WARLOCK OF BROOKLYN.**

Jace straightened and stared at Izzy. "Where did you get this, Izzy?"

She waved her hand like it was no big deal. "From that kelpie in Pandemonium. He said it would be awesome. He had a whole stack of them."

"What is it?" Clary said, sitting up looking eager. "Are you going to show the rest of us, or not?"

Jace turned it around so she and Simon could see.

"Magnus," said Simon thoughtfully. "Magnus like Magnus Bane?"

Just another reason to hate him. Simon is an idiot. "I doubt there are that many warlocks named Magnus in the Tristate Area," said Jace.

"Does this mean we have to go to the party?" Alec asked, his facial expression looking almost embarrassed.

"We don't _have _to do anything," Jace said, reading the invitation once again. "But according to this, Magnus Bane is the High Warlock of Brooklyn." He looked at Clary. "I, for one, am a little curious as to what the High Warlock of Brooklyn's name is doing inside your head."

* * *

The party wasn't until midnight, which meant they all had some time to kill. When they walked into the Institute, Jace was secretly hoping to spend some time with Clary, but remembered that if they were going to go to this party, they were going to have to find the right weapons. Isabelle and Simon were going on a walk, which shocked Jace. Simon was extremely annoying, but he seemed to be doing pretty well with Izzy, though Jace knew her. This doesn't mean anything. Jace and Alec headed towards the weapons room.

The room was the same as always, except Church wasn't knocking down all of the weapons. That was nice. He was probably outside the kitchen waiting for Izzy to feed some fish to him.

Alec went to grab his weapons belt, and Jace followed. They started to fill it up with the most important items that they need on an everyday basis. Sensor, seraph blade, stele. They filled the empty spaces with extra daggers and knifes that would definently come in handy.

Alec turned around and handed him a napkin that was in his pocket.

"What?" Jace asked.

"You still have lipstick on your cheek." He said quietly. Alec looked disappointed in him, which is never good.

He took the cloth and wiped the sticky lipstick off his cheek. He remembered Kaelie's lips pressed there and tried to think, _so worth it, so worth it, _but he just couldn't.

"Thanks." Was all he said.

"Kaelie does know you're teasing her, right?" Alec says with a tense smile.

"Who says I am?" Jace joked back. Alec punched his arm playfully and they laughed.

"C'mon, we all know by now that you're into redheads." Alec said.

Jace glared at him, not joking around anymore. Alec looked at Jace and put his hands up.

"Um, you know, that one that you met, uh, that one time." He said, hiding a laugh with a cough.

"Oh... yeah," Jace said. "I don't even remember her name." They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds.

"Well, I'm going to my room," Alec said, pointing to the exit of the weapons room. He turned around and walked.

Jace walked around the weapons room looking for anything else that they might need. He grabbed another dagger, but this dagger was probably the most beautiful they owned. It had a delicately carved red rose on the hilt. He set it aside, deciding he didn't want to use it.

* * *

It was about four o'clock and Jace had nothing to do. Clary hadn't been seen all day, and Izzy had told him she was probably in her room, because she was exhausted. He decided he wanted to go talk to her. He didn't know what about, but he just had to be alone with her. He liked when they were having a conversation without the rest of them.

He knocked on her door, but she didn't answer. He figured she was asleep so he just opened the door.

She was definently in bed at one point, because her covers were sprawled all over. He slowly walked in and sat on the edge of her bed. He felt uncomfortable. He shouldn't be here. That's when he saw an open book on her side table. He picked it up. It was full of incredible drawings. From little things like beautiful flowers, to exotic people in incredible detail.

Half an hour passed by and he was now laying on her bed, drawn to every illustration on the page. He knew her mother was an artist. Why did this shock him?

He heard something fall to the ground, and saw a vile of green liquid spilling on the hardwood floor. He sat up and looked at Clary, her mouth open with shock. He put down her sketchbook, almost hoping she wouldn't realize he had it.

"Oh, dear," Jace said, casually. "I hope that wasn't anything important."

"It was a sleeping potion," she said through gritted teeth. She poked the empty vile with her toe. "And know it's gone."

"If only Simon was here. He could probably bore you to sleep." She didn't even roll her eyes. Someone was in a mood.

She walked over to the bed and sat down, picking up the sketchbook. She noticed. "I don't usually let people look at this."

"Why not? You're a pretty good artist," Well, that was an understatement. "Sometimes even excellent."

"Well, because- it's like a diary. Except, I don't think in words, I think in pictures, so it's all drawings. But it's still private."

Jace acted wounded. "A diary with no pictures of me in it? Where are the torrid fantasies? The romance novel covers? The-"

"Do all the girls you meet fall in love with you?" she said quietly, still looking at her book.

He was strangely offended by that comment. "It's not _love." _he said, after a minute of thinking about all the girls he had dated. They didn't really care. None of them. They liked his hair, his eyes, the fact that he was the best Shadowhunter in their age group. But not love. "At least-"

"You can try not being charming all the time," she said, louder this time, as if to make a big point. "It might be a relief for everyone."

He looked down at his hands. He didn't know whether to be happy that she found him charming, or to be upset that it frustrated her. Instead he decided to change the subject. "If you're really that tired, I could put you to sleep," he said. "Tell you a bedtime story."

He couldn't tell if that was childish or not, to have been read a story to sleep. Jace often enjoyed reading himself to sleep. The thought of adventures or anything complicated going on helped him sleep, have dreams.

She stared at him for a while. "Are you serious?"

"I'm always serious."

They both stared at each other for a while. His eyes into her bright green eyes, and her eyes into his golden ones. He had to look away. Four days. That's how long he has known her. If they weren't counting her days in the infirmary. It was too crazy. He wondered if he was feeling happy, somehow, but all he felt was sadness washing over him. She's here to find her mother. If there were another choice, he was sure she would take it. Either way, she still laid down on the bed, he red curls sprawling onto the pillow. "Okay." Was all she said.

"Close your eyes."

She did. He knew the story he was going to tell her, and it wasn't like most fairy tales. But he felt the need to tell her.

"Once there was a boy," said Jace.

"A Shadowhunter boy?" Clary interrupted. He didn't mind.

"Of course." He said, trying to not lose his serious tone. "When the boy was six years old, his father gave him a falcon to train. Falcons are raptures- killing birds, his father told him, the Shadowhunters of the sky.

"The falcon didn't like the boy, and the boy didn't like it, either. It's sharp beak made him nervous, and its bright eyes always seemed to be watching him. It would slash him with beak and talons when he came near: For weeks his wrists and hands were always bleeding. He didn't know it, but his father had selected a falcon that had lived in the wild for over a year, and thus was nearly impossible to tame. But the boy tried, because his father had told him to make the falcon obedient, and he wanted to please his father.

"He stayed with the falcon constantly, keeping it awake by talking to it and even playing music to it, because a tired bird was meant to be easier to tame. He learned the equipment: the jesses, the hood, the brail, the leash that bound the bird to his wrist. He was meant to keep the falcon blind, but he couldn't bring himself to do it- instead he tried to sit where the bird could see him as he touched and stroked its wings, willing it to trust him. He fed it from his hand, and at first it would not eat. Later it ate so savagely that its beak cut the skin of his palm. But the boy was glad, because it was progress, and because he wanted the bird to know him, even if the bird had to consume his blood to make that happen.

"He began to see that the falcon was beautiful, that its slim wings were built for the speed of flight, that it was strong and swift, fierce and gentle. When it dived to the ground, it moved like light. When it learned to circle and come to his wrist, he nearly shouted with delight. Sometimes the bird would hop to his shoulder and put its beak in his hair. He knew his falcon loved him, and when he was certain it was not just tamed but perfectly tamed, he went to his father and showed him what he had done, expecting him to be proud.

"Instead his father took the bird, now tame and trusting, in his hands and broke his neck. 'I told you to make it obedient,' his father said, and dropped the falcon's lifeless body to the ground. 'Instead, you taught it to love you. Falcons are not meant to be loving pets: They are fierce and wild, savage and cruel. This bird was not tamed; it was broken.'

"Later when his father had left him, the boy cried over his pet, until eventually his father sent a servant to take the body of the bird away and bury it. The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed."

As Jace wrapped up his story he brought his legs up and put his chin on his knees. He waited a moment for Clary to realize the story was done. He had almost thought she fell asleep. But she opened her eyes and looked at him. "That's an _awful _story," she said.

"Is it?" Jace asked, as his memories were still floating in his mind.

"The boy's father is horrible. It's a story about child abuse. I should have known that's what Shadowhunters think a bedtime story is like. Anything that gives you screaming nightmares-"

"Sometimes the Marks can give you screaming nightmares," Jace said, reflexively defending the story. "If you get them when you're too young." He looked at her as she cocked her head to the side. "It's a good story if you think about it," he said, knowing he sounded vulnerable. "The boy's father is just trying to make him stronger. Inflexible."

"But you have to learn to bend a little," she said with a yawn. "Or you'll break."

"Not if your strong enough," he said, a little too roughly. Jace realized the amount of space between them. They were both on opposite ends of the bed, with tons of room in the middle. He reached over and brushed her cheek, as her eyes closed. A voice in his head told him to get away from her, that she thinks his father was a cruel man, and that he's the only person he spent time with growing up. But the other half of him dominated that half.

"Jace," she said guiltily, as she fell into a soundless sleep.

Jace stayed there for ten minutes, to make sure she was asleep for sure. He was getting pretty tired himself, so he hopped out of her bed and opened her door, and didn't look back at her.

* * *

Jace woke with a start when Alec woke him up.

"What was that for?" Jace asked, still exhausted from his evening with Clary.

"It's party time, Jace," Alec said, waving his arm toward the gear that lay on top of Jace's dresser. "Get moving. The girls have been getting ready for about a half and hour."

"Yeah, well they're girls. _I _don't have to try to look fabulous." Jace said, gesturing to his face.

"Well you do have to try and put your gear on, because Magnus won't be very happy to see guests in their undershirt." Alec said, eying him.

"Fine. But if I'm cranky because I lost sleep, I'm blaming you. I could have slept for fifteen more minutes."

"Whatever," Alec said, shutting the door on his way out.

Jace got his gear on and headed toward the weapons room to grab his belt. He noticed a beautiful weapon, shining with a metallic glow on the table. The rose patterned blade. He realized that Clary needs a weapon. This would be perfect. It was a precious blade, and must be put in trusted hands. Jace had no idea what he was doing, she had never fought demons, besides throwing a device in a Ravener's mouth. But he trusted her.

He met Alec down by the entryway, where, low and behold, Simon the mundane was. He was dressed in all black, like a Shadowhunter would. Black pants, a black shirt, which was inside out, and black shoes. Jace smirked and turned to Alec. "Even in Shadowhunter wear, he's still the most mundane mundane I have ever met."

Simon rolled his eyes. "You know, if you hadn't kidnapped my best friend in a coffee shop, I wouldn't be here in the first place, so buzz off." He said, his cheeks red.

"Well, than neither would she," Jace said automatically. "And than she would never figure out the important things that are in her head. Plus, she would have no way to save her mother. If you don't want any of that for her, than I would just shut your weasel mouth and play along."

Simon was about to reply when Alec sat down and said, "Ladies, ladies. Your both precious. Can you both shut up now?"

Jace sat next to Alec, leaving Simon standing there awkwardly.

They sat there for a while before the girls walked in. Izzy looked great, as always, but his eyes weren't on her. They were on Clary. She was wearing a short, tight black dress that fit her body well. Fishnet tights under that, with tall healed boots. She had a light jacket thrown on and her backpack slinging over her shoulder. Her hair was up in an elegant updo, hiding her curls. Clary was always beautiful, but she looked sexy. Something he never thought he would call her.

Simon apparently noticed too. "What _is _that?" he said, eying her dress.

She looked down, as if insecure. "It's a dress, Simon," Clary said, dryly. "I know I don't wear them that much, but really."

"It's so _short," _Simon said, his eyes wide.

Jace stood up and looked her up and down. "I like the dress," he said. "It needs a little something extra, though." He walked toward her, slowly.

"So now you're a fashion expert?" She asked, her voice cracking. They were so close, he could feel her breathing heavily, and he tried to keep his breathing at a steady pace. He took the dagger out of his pocket and handed it to her. She looked at it and shook her head. "I wouldn't even know how to use that-"

He pressed it into her hand, which was warm, and curled her soft fingers around it. The touch made him tremble. "You'll learn." he dropped his voice so only she could hear. "It's in your blood."

She drew her hand back, awkwardly. "All right."

"I could give you a thigh sheath to put that in." Izzy offered. "I've got tons."

"CERTAINLY NOT." Simon said.

Clary rolled her eyes. "Thanks, but I'm not really a thigh sheath kind of girl." She put the dagger in her backpack, and Jace stared at her.

"And one last thing," he reached over and pulled the sparkly pins out of her hair. Her hair fell down in its familiar place, in curls halfway down her arms. He cocked a tiny smile at her. "Much better," he said, his voice trembling for the first time in front of anyone.

* * *

**Oh my goodness. Just re-writing this gives me fangirl moments. How sweet is he? Anyways, thank you for reading and please review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Dead man's party

**Hey you guys! So, I have been getting the most incredible responses lately, and I just wanted to thank you! My updating might not be as often because I just moved and I am actually starting to work on my own book now, but I will update whenever I get the chance to! Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!**

CHAPTER 12: DEAD MAN'S PARTY

* * *

The directions for this party took them through an industrial neighborhood full of factories and warehouses. It wasn't unlike anything Jace had seen before, he was pretty sure they had hunted down her before, but Clary seemed extremely interested. Jace walked in front of her, keeping his distance.

On the way to the subway station, Izzy found a way to entertain the mundane pet that was brought along for the ride. She gave him her Sensor and Simon was instantly fascinated. Jace rolled his eyes at him. He looked back to make sure Clary was there. She seemed like the type of girl who might run off. But at the same time, he knew she wouldn't.

He dropped back beside her. "Keep up," he whispered in her ear. She smelled like Izzy's favorite perfume; Vanilla. "I don't want to have to keep looking behind me to make sure nothing's happened to you."

"So don't bother." She said, her voice dry.

"Last time I left you alone, a demon attacked you," Jace pointed out.

"Well, I'd certainly hate to interrupt your pleasant night stroll with my sudden death."

He blinked, shocked. He was appalled that she thought that he wouldn't care. "There is a fine line between sarcasm and out-right hostility, and you seemed to have crossed it. What's up?"

She bit her clear-glossed lip. "This morning, weird creepy guys dug around in my brain. Now I'm going to meet the weird creepy guy who originally dug in my brain. What if I don't like what he finds?"

"What makes you think you won't?"

Clary grunted while moving a piece of her hair aside. "I hate it when you answer a question with a question."

Jace smiled. "No you don't, you think it's charming. Anyway, wouldn't you rather know the truth?"

"No. I mean, maybe. I don't know." She sighed, frustrated. "Would you?"

"This is the right street!" Izzy exclaimed, nearly jumping in excitement, which would have been extremely inappropriate in her dress.

It didn't seem like this was the right street. It was extremely mundane, which was probably the point.

Jace brushed his fingers on Clary's shoulder, going back to her question. "Absolutely. Always," he murmured. He wasn't entirely sure if that was just the answer to the question, or if he was trying to express something else.

She looked at him with her wide green eyes, confused. "What?"

"The truth," he started to explain. "I would-"

"Jace!" Alec said, interrupting their conversation.

Jace took his hand off her shoulder, feeling the soft silk of her light cover-up. "Yes?" he said, irritated.

"Think we're in the right place?" Alec was pointing at something Jace could barely see. it looked like a motorcycle. Alec's face was broken into a wide smile, and Jace felt his do the same.

"What's that?" he asked, knowing exactly what it was. He ran to join Alec and they stared at the vehicles. Jace laughed. These things were great, and beautiful to look at. They were sleek and silver and run on demon energies.

"Vampires," Jace said.

"They just look like motorcycles to me," Simon said, as him and Izzy joined Jace and Alec.

"They are, but they've been altered to run on demon energies," Izzy started to explain. "Vampires use them- it lets them get around fast at night. It's not strictly Covenant, but-"

"I've heard some of the bikes can fly," Alec said, his smile getting bigger. Izzy pursed her lips and arched her eyebrows, the look of disapproval. That would be why most people hate to interrupt Izzy. She can be quite frightening. "Or go invisible at the flick of a switch. Or operate under water." Alec looked at Jace and he knew exactly what he was thinking.

Jace jumped over the curb, dying just to sit on one of the motorcycles. He reached his hand out and stroked the nearest one. It looked brand new, untouched. And it felt smooth, as if the rider of this bike was flawless and never even scratched it bike had writing one the side. NOX INVICTUS. "Victorious night," he translated. Jace kept stroking motorcycle, longing to ride it. But instead he took an empty vile full of holy water and tipped it into the gas tank.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked.

Jace slid his hand back into his pocket. "Nothing." Alec knew what he was doing. It was all for show.

"Well, hurry up," said Izzy. "I didn't get this dressed up to watch you mess around in the gutters with a bunch of motorcycles."

Jace hopped back up on the pavement, looking at them again. "They are pretty to look at, you have to admit that."

"So am I," said Izzy, her hands on her hips. "Now hurry up." Jace had the urge to say, 'so am I.'

Jace looked at Clary, who didn't even seem interested in flying motorcycles at the moment. "This building," he said, pointing to the red brick building ahead. "Is this the one?"

Clary furrowed her eyebrows, looking at the building. "I think so," she said, tapping her fingers against her bare thighs. "They all look the same."

"One way to find out," said Izzy, walking up the steps as if it were a catwalk. The rest of them followed her, making an awkward stance.

Izzy rang the doorbell and waited for a minute before ringing it again. She reached over to ring it a third time, but Alec grabbed her hand. "Don't be rude," he said.

She glared at him, in that sisterly way. "Alec-"

That's when the door opened. Jace took out his stele.

The man standing in the doorway, was dressed very... interestingly. He was wearing plain jeans with a black top that had tons of metallic buckles and embellishments on it. He had eye makeup on, circling his small eyes. it was charcoal and glittery. Hid lips were painted blue and his hair was spiked up. he was thin and had tan skin, obviously of Asian decent.

Izzy batted her eyelashes at him. "Magnus? Magnus Bane?"

"That would be me." He gave her a smile as he scoped the rest of them out. His eyes skimmed over me and Clary's, but seemed to stop on Alec. His smile got a tiny bit wider. "Children of the Nephilim," he said. "Well, well. I don't recall inviting you."

Isabelle took out the blue piece of paper and waved it around. "I have an invitation. These-" She gestured to the others. "are my friends."

Magnus took the invitation from her flailing hand and narrowed his eyes at it. "I must have been drunk," he said to himself. "Come in. And try not to murder any of my guests."

Jace stepped in and looked Magnus in the eye. "Even if one of them spills a drink on my new shoes?" he joked.

"Even then." Magnus quickly plucked Jace's stele out of his hand. "As for this," he slid it into Jace's jean pocket, making Jace pretty uncomfortable. "keep it in her pants, Shadowhunter."

Magnus headed up the stairs, leaving them wondering if they should follow.

"Come on," he said waving his hand indicating that they go inside. "Before anyone thinks it's _my _party."

Jace held the door open for them as they four of them laughed, nervously. Izzy stopped next to Jace. "Try not to piss him off, please. Then he won't help us."

Jace looked down and scowled at the ground. "I know what I'm doing." As he always did.

"I hope so." she said, as she flounced passed him, ready to dance. he got the feeling that she was more excited about going to the party than finding out the information they need. Typical Izzy.

They walked up the rickety stairs that led up to Magnus's apartment. The closer they got, the clearer they could hear music pumping through the door. Jace walked passed Izzy so that he was in front, besides Magnus. He heard Clary laugh her soft sweet laugh. He smiled at hearing it. He turned around to see her and Simon walking side by side and felt a pain in his chest. Thankfully Izzy broke that up. "Did I miss something funny? Simon?"

Jace turned back around. They reached Magnus's front door.

The space that he had was huge. That was to be expected, considering he was the High warlock of Brooklyn, but it was really cool to see. Downworlders were everywhere. It got to the point where he didn't want to be seen there, to be seen with Downworlders. They would all stare, thinking that they were out of place and that they would hurt them. Jace and Alec walked off on their own, staring at the strange people. Flashes of multicolored hair blinded them as they walked towards the dance floor. There was no way Alec would dance, and Jace wasn't really in that kind of mood either, but they saw Simon and Isabelle on the floor, and busted out laughing. Simon was bouncing on the balls of his feet while Izzy circled around him, dragging her fingers across his chest. This would usually be branded as sexy, but Simon wasn't really helping that factor.

As they caught their breath from laughing, they walked around until they found Magnus. He was talking to Clary and she looked really uncomfortable. Jace couldn't stop staring at her... again. She should stay away from short dresses. It made him uneasy. A girl with bright neon green hair put her hand on his shoulder and circled around him. She put a strand of glowing flowers around his neck and rubbed up against him. He shook her off, but smiled at the effort.

Clary saw them coming. "Where are Simon and Isabelle?" she asked.

"On the dance floor." Jace pointed at them, swallowing his laughs. She widened her eyes and looked away quickly.

Jace turned to Magnus. "Look, we really need to talk to-"

"MAGNUS BANE!" A deep voice screamed. It came from a surprisingly short man, with pale, pale skin and fangs that he was baring. _Vampire. _

"Someone just poured holy water into the gas tank on my bike. It's ruined. Destroyed. All the pipes are melted." Jace held back his laugh.

"Melted?" Magnus said, uninterested. "How dreadful."

"I want ti know who did it." The man said, baring his fangs again. "I thought you swore there'd be no wolf-men here tonight, _Bane." _

"I invited none of the Moon's Children," Magnus said, looking down at his nails, as Jace often did. "Precisely because of your stupid little feud. If any of them decided to sabotage your bike, they weren't a guest of mine, and are therefore..." he looked up and smiled a sarcastic smile at the man. "Not my responsibility."

The little vampire man roared and jabbed his finger at Magnus. If he had blood in his body, his face would be beat red. "Are you trying to tell me that-"

Magnus flicked his finger at the man, making him silent. Warlock magic. "You've worn out you're welcome," Magnus said, still sounding bored. "Now go." he flicked both of his wrists and the man turned around quick.

Jace whistled. "That was impressive."

"You mean that little hissy fit?" He rolled his eyes. "What _is _her problem?"

Alec laughed at the statement. He just couldn't help it. "We put the holy water in the gas tank, you know," he said.

"ALEC," Jace said. "Shut up."

"I assumed that," said Magnus, his face still illuminated by his smile. "Vindictive little bastards, aren't you? You know their bikes run on demon energies. I doubt he'll be able to repair it."

"One less leach with a fancy ride," said Jace, putting a hand over his heart mockingly. "My heart bleeds."

"I heard some of them can make their bikes fly," Alec said again. Underneath the Shadowhunter Alec, there was a fascinated little boy inside. It was very admiring at some points and annoying at others. Now he was just excited. Jace could never really see Alec riding a motorcycle.

"Merely an old witches' tale," said Magnus, waving his hand. "So is that why you wanted to crash my party? Just to wreck some bloodsucker bikes?"

"No." Jace straightened himself and made sure to talk low. "We need to talk to you. Preferably somewhere private."

Magnus raised one eyebrow and he heard a small grunt escape Clary's mouth. "Am I in trouble with the Clave?"

"No," said Jace.

"Probably not," Alec added. Jace kicked him in the ankle. "Ow!" he yelled.

"No," Jace said again. "We can talk to you under the seal of the Covenant. If you help us, anything you say will be confidential."

"And if I don't help you?"

Jace spread his arms wide and smiled a helpless smile. "maybe nothing. Maybe a visit from the Silent City."

"That's quite a choice you're offering me, little Shadowhunter." Magnus sounded... scared.

"It's no choice at all," said Jace.

"Yes," he said, sighing. "That's exactly what I meant.

* * *

Magnus's bedroom looked like it belonged to a billionaire. He was kind of equivalent, but this... this was heaven. Being able to lay in his huge yellow bed and stretch as far as the body could. the only downside was that the room was not Jace's style. Rainbow curtains, buckets and buckets of sparkly makeup. It was a catastrophe.

"Nice place," Jace said anyway, running his hand over the velvet rainbow curtains. "Guess it pays well, being the High Warlock of Brooklyn?"

"It pays," Magnus said, nodding and looking around his massive room. "Not much of a benefit package, thought. No dental." he shut the door and leaned on it. He crossed his arms, waiting to hear an explanation. "So, what's on your devious little minds?"

Jace was about to reply, but was cut off. "It's not them, actually. I'm the one who wanted to talk to you." Clary said, her voice shaking.

Magnus looked her up and down. Jace felt the sudden need to put himself in between the two, and protect her from the warlock. His stare was intense, as if his eyes were lasers and he was shooting them into her soul.

"You are not one of them," he finally said. "Not of the Clave. but you can see the Invisible World."

"My mother was one of the Clave," Clary said. She held her head high. She said that without a doubt for the first time. "But she never told me. She kept it a secret. I don't know why."

"So ask her."

"I can't. She's..." Clary hesitated. and Jace knew how she felt. "She's gone."

"And your father?" It sounded like a repeat of when Hodge was questioning her.

"He died before I was born."

Magnus inhaled. "As Oscar Wilde once said, 'To lose one parent may be regarded as misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness." Jace sucked air in between his gap. He felt a pang in his stomach as if Magnus's words had actually wounded him.

"I didn't lose my mother. She was taken from me. By Valentine." Clary said, her voice sinister.

"I don't know any Valentine," Magnus said, looking uncertain. Jace glared at him, because he knew he was lying. "I'm sorry for your tragic circumstances, but I fail to see what any of this has to do with me. If you could tell me-"

"She can't tell you, because she doesn't remember," Jace said, impatient. "Someone erased her memories. So we went to the Silent City to see what the Brothers could pull out of her head. They got two words. I think you can guess what they were."

There was a pause as Magnus pondered over what happened. Than he turned up a corner of his mouth, smiling. "My signature," he said. "I knew it was folly when I did it. An act of hubris..."

"You _signed _my mind?" Clary whined. her mouth was open and angry.

Magnus raised his hand and wrote his name in the air with a fiery tip. When he dropped his hand, the words stayed there and they all stared at the two words. MAGNUS BANE.

"I was proud of my work on you," he said slowly, his eyes in that creepy state. "So clean. So perfect. What you saw you would forget, even as you saw it. No image of pixie or goblin or long-legged beastie would remain to trouble your blameless mortal sleep. It was the way she wanted it."

Jace cold guess who the 'she' was and automatically felt sorry for Clary. Extremely sorry, like it was happening to him, too.

"The way who wanted it?" She knew. Her voice told them that. It was very clear to her that this was happening, but she still couldn't believe it.

"Your mother," he said.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! PLEASE REVIEW! Hopefully the next chapter will be longer, so yeah!**


	13. Chapter 13: The Memory of Whiteness

**Hey you guys! Thank you for all the compliments! I love reading your reviews and I love to reply to all of you! Enjoy reading, and if you like The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare, than you should check out my other story. Thanks!**

CHAPTER 13: THE MEMORY OF WHITENESS

* * *

Clary started to shake. Jace could see it from across the room. Her prominent cheek bones were bright red with fury. "My _mother_ did this to me?" Her green eyes were glistened with tears as she looked around the room. Jace was leaning against the yellow wall of Magnus's room and it took all the energy he had to not run over there and comfort her. "Why?"

"I don't know." Magnus spread his hands wide. "It's not my job to ask questions. I do what I get paid to do."

"Within the bounds of the Covenant," Jace reminded him. Jace felt very sensitive. Whenever they talked about Clary's parents, he felt like he was re-living the loss of his.

Magnus turned to him and slightly nodded. "Within the bounds of the Covenant, of course."

"So the Covenant's all right with this- this mind-rape?" She asked, stuttering. She sat down on the edge of Magnus's bed, as if her feet couldn't possibly hold her any longer. "Was it only once? Was there something specific she wanted me to forget? Do you know what it was?"

Magnus was pacing, looking almost guilty for his doings. "I don't think you understand. The first time I ever saw you, you must have been about two years old. I was watching you out this window" - he tapped the glass window he was pacing next to. -"and I saw her hurry up the street, holding something wrapped in a blanket. I was surprised when she stopped by my door. She looked so ordinary, so young."

He paused and Jace looked over at Clary. She was waiting for him to continue, staring at the warlock with intense longing. She longed to know what happened. Her green eyes were wet.

"She unwrapped the blanket when she came in my door. You were inside it. She set you down on the floor and you started ranging around, picking things up, pulling my cat's tail- you screamed like a banshee when the cat scratched you, so I asked your mother if you _were_ part banshee. She didn't laugh." But Jace cracked a smile.

"She told me she was a Shadowhunter. There was no point in her lying about it; Covenant Marks show up, even when they've faded with time, like faint silver scars against the skin. They flickered when she moved." Glitter makeup smeared across his face when he wiped at it. "She told me she'd hoped you'd been born with a blind Inner Eye- some Shadowhunters have to be taught to see the Shadow World. But she'd caught you that afternoon, teasing a pixie trapped in a hedge. She knew you could _see. _So she asked me if it was possible to blind you from the Sight."

Clary breathed heavily. It was painful just to hear it.

"I told her that crippling that part of your mind might leave you damaged, possibly insane. She didn't cry. She wasn't the sort of woman who weeps easily, your mother. She asked me if there was another way, and I told her you could be made to forget those parts of the Shadow World that you could see, even as you saw them. The only caveat was that she'd have to come to me every two years as the results of the spell began to fade."

"And did she?" Clary asked, although they all already knew the answer.

Magnus nodded. "I've seen you every two years since that first time- I've watched you grow up. You're the only child I have ever watched grow up that way, you know. In my business one isn't generally that welcome around a human child."

"So you recognized Clary when we walked in," Jace said. "You must have."

"Of course I did." Magnus said, in a tone that Jace knew meant that he shouldn't have interrupted. "And it was a shock, too. But what would you have done? She didn't know me. She wasn't supposed to know me. Just the fact she was here meant the spell had started to fade- and in fact, we were due for another visit about a month ago. I even came by your house when I got back from Tanzania, but Jocelyn said that you two had a fight and you'd run off. She said she'd call on me when you came back, but she never did."

Clary furrowed her eyebrows and she looked as if he were about to pass out. All of a sudden, she looked up at Magnus abruptly. "You were there, that day," she said. "I saw you coming out of Dorothea's apartment. I remember your eyes."

Magnus smiled and waved his hand down. "I'm memorable, it's true," he said. Then he dropped the act and got back to the subject. "You shouldn't remember me," he said to himself. "I threw up a glamor as hard as a wall as soon as I saw you. You should have run into it face first- psychically speaking."

"If you take the spell off me, will I be able to remember all the things I've forgotten? All the memories you stole?" She spat the word 'you'.

Magnus avoided all of their eyes. "I can't take it off you."

Jace jumped from against the wall. "What?" he was infuriated. Everything they had done. All they got was a story? They needed improvement, not information about something they could have guessed. "Why not? The Clave requires you-"

Magnus turned to him and his eyes shot him an evil glare. "I don't like being told what to do, little Shadowhunter."

Jace thinned his lips and was about to reply when Alec cut him off. "Don't you know how to reverse it? The spell, I mean."

Magnus sighed, seeming to enjoy the fact that Alec was speaking instead of Jace. "Undoing a spell is a great deal more difficult than creating it in the first place. The intricacy of this one, the care I put into weaving it- if I made the smallest mistake in unraveling it, her mind could be damaged forever." Jace stiffened. "Besides, it's already begun to fade. The effects will vanish over time on their own."

"Will I get my memories back then? Whatever was taken out of my head?" she snapped.

"I don't know. They might come back all at once, or in stages. Or you might never remember what you've forgotten over the years. What your mother asked me to do was unique, in my experience. I've no idea what will happen." _Unique._

"But I don't want to wait." Clary's hands were folded in her lap. Jace was doing the same with his on his sides. How could he not know? Jace was sure Magnus would be the key, but he wasn't. Maybe no one is the key. Maybe it's just Clary and how she takes this information and how she uses it. "All my life I've felt like there was something wrong with me. Something missing or damaged. Now I know-"

"I didn't damage you." He was baring his teeth. Jace took a step closer towards the bed where she sat. "Every teenager in the world feels like that, feels broken or out of place, different somehow, royalty mistakenly born into a family of peasants. The difference in your case is that it's true. You _are _different. You want to know what it's like when your parents are good churchgoing folk and you happen to be born with the devil's mark?" He pointed at his eyes, his warlock mark. "When your father flinches at the sight of you and your mother hangs herself in the barn, driven mad by what she's done? When I was ten, my father tried to drown me in the creek. I lashed out at him with everything I had- burned him where he stood. I went to the fathers of the church eventually, for the sanctuary. They hid me. They say pity's a bitter thing, but it's better than hate. When I found out what I was really, only half a human being, I hated myself. Anything's better than that."

Everything was silent after that. Even Jace, who wanted to hit him the moment he first opened his mouth a moment ago, felt sorry for him. And Alec, who never spoke up in situations like this, tried to comfort him. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "You can't help how you're born."

"I'm over it," Magnus said. "I think you get my point. Different isn't better, Clarissa. Your mother was trying to protect you. Don't throw it back in her face."

Clary seemed to like that. That her mom wasn't _really _the bad guy. She just wanted Clary to be safe. "I don't care if I'm different," she said. "I just want to be who I really am."

Magnus's head was resting into his hand. "All right. Listen. I can't undo what I've done, but I can give you something else. A piece of what would have been yours if you'd been raised a true child of the Nephilim." He was headed toward an old bookcase that looked to be exactly like the ones in the Institute library, except his were decorated with confetti. He grabbed a book that was covered in green velvet. It looked extremely old and powerful and Jace guessed why.

"Is that a copy of the Gray Book?"

Magnus didn't answer, but he didn't have to. Jace knew it was.

"Hodge has one," Alec said, and Jace raised an eyebrow at him. "He showed it to me once." _He never showed it to me._

Jace's curiosity in the Book was growing with every flip of a page that Magnus was doing.

"It's not gray," Clary said. "It's green."

"If there was such a thing as terminal literalism, you'd have died in childhood," Jace said, wiping off the dust on the windowsill. "Gray is short for 'Graymarye.' It means, 'magic, hidden wisdom.' In it is copied every rune the Angel Raziel wrote in the original book of the Covenant. There aren't many copies because each one has to be specifically made. Some of the runes are so powerful they;d burn through the regular pages."

Alec looked impressed. "I didn't know all that."

Jace hopped on the windowsill, half aching to sit down and the other half wanting so badly to just run. "Not all of us sleep through history lessons."

"I do not-"

"Oh, yes you do, and drool on the desk besides."

Alec was about to tell him to shut up, but Magnus said it for him, as he walked over to Clary and gently placed the book in her lap, keeping his fingers between the pages. "Now, when I open the book, I want you to study the page. Look at it until you feel something change inside your mind."

"Will it hurt?" Clary asked. She had the same face she had on when they were in the Silent City. Fear, but strength. He didn't know someone could look both the parts, but she was magnificent at it.

"All knowledge hurts," Magnus replied. He opened the book and stood up. Her eyes were staring blankly at the page. She tilted her head to get a better look at the runes, and her eyes began to water. She had tears rolling down her face, like she wanted to close her eyes, but they were pinned to her forehead. But they widened instead of closed.

She sighed and flipped the page, eager to learn more. She was flying through the runes now and Jace stood up from the windowsill. She had to stop. Magnus put his arm out in front of Jace. "Let me." he said and Jace sat back down. Magnus snatched the book out of her hand and she released a cry.

"That's enough," he said, sliding it back to it's spot on the shelf. "If you read all the runes at once, you'll give yourself a headache."

"But-"

"Most Shadowhunter children grow up learning one rune at a time over a period of time." Jace said, itching to see if she was okay. "The Gray Book contains runes even I don't know."

"Imagine that," said Magnus rolling his eyes. Jace ignored him.

"Magnus showed you the rune for understanding and remembrance. It opens your mind up to reading and recognizing the rest of the Marks." Jace sounded so much like Hodge he could practically feel his hairs graying.

"It also may serve as a trigger to activate dormant memories," said Magnus. "They could return to you more quickly than they would otherwise. It's the best I can do."

Clary looked down, disappointed. "I still don't remember anything about the Mortal Cup."

"Is _that_ what this is about?" Magnus looked at her like she was a weapon used to pry information out of a suspect. "You're after the Angel's Cup? Look, I've been through your memories. There was nothing in them about the Mortal Instruments."

"Mortal Instruments?" Clary said, quickly looking up at Jace. "I thought-"

"The Angel gave three items to the first Shadowhunters. A cup, a sword and a mirror. The Silent Brothers have the sword; the cup and the mirror were in Idris, at least until Valentine came along."

"Nobody knows where the mirror is," said Alec. "Nobody's known for ages."

"It's the Cup that concerns us," said Jace. "Valentine's looking for it."

"And you want to get it before he does?" Magnus asked. He looked at Jace like he was stupid.

"I thought you didn't know who Valentine was? Clary spoke up. Jace had almost forgotten about that, but he didn't worry about it. He knew that Magnus had known about Valentine because everybody knew about Valentine.

"I lied," Magnus said matter-of-factly. "I'm not one of the fey, you know. I'm not required to be truthful. And only a fool would get between Valentine and his revenge."

"Is that what you think he's after? Revenge?" said Jace. Of course he wasn't after revenge. Angry people were after revenge. Valentine wasn't angry. Just plain old evil.

"I would guess so. He suffered a grave defeat, and he hardly seemed-seems- the type of man to suffer defeat gracefully."

Alec strained his eyes. "Were you at the Uprising?"

Magnus locked his eyes with Alec for only a second. Alec turned away. "I was. I killed a number of your folk."

"Circle members," Jace defended. "Not ours-"

"If you insist on disavowing that which is ugly about what you do, you will never learn from your mistakes."

Alec flushed and seemed stressed. "You don't seemed surprised to hear that Valentine's still alive," he observed.

Magnus spread his hands wide. "Are you?"

Jace was about to reply when he thought better of it. He wasn't that surprised. The things he had seen before and the things he had learned had prevented him from the shock. He changed the subject. "So you won't help us find the Mortal Cup?"

"I wouldn't if I could," said Magnus. "which, by the way, I can't. I have no idea where it is, and I don't care to know. Only a fool, as I said."

Jace rolled his eyes and Alec stiffened. "But without the Mortal Cup, we can't-"

"Make more of you, I know," said Magnus. "Perhaps not everyone regards that as quite the disaster that you do. Mind you," he added, as if to defend his statement. "if I had to choose between the Clave and Valentine, I would choose the Clave. At least they're not actually sworn to wipe out my kind. But nothing the Clave has done has earned my unswerving loyalty either. So no, I'll sit this one out. Now if we're done here, I'd like to get back to my party before any of my guests eat each other."

Jace's mind was on fire. Magnus had just stated that what they did was unimportant. That it wasn't important to keep creating them because what they do is ugly. Jace's hands were sweaty and he felt them clench. He felt his _parabatai's _hand on his shoulder, calming him down. His grip tightened though, Alec's nails practically digging into his skin. "Is that likely?"

Magnus smirked. "It's happened before."

"Let go." Jace demanded Alec. He sighed and let go of his shoulder. Jace headed towards Clary, still on the bed. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I think so. I don't feel any different..." she shook her head while speaking. Her red curls bounced.

Magnus snapped his fingers by the doorway. "Move it along, teenagers. The only person who gets to canoodle in my bedroom is my magnificent self."

Clary cocked her head to the side. "Canoodle?"

Jace mimicked her voice and the way her head moved. "Magnificent?" Magnus growled at them.

"Get out." he said, his voice raspy.

Clary and Jace walked side by side, Alec in front of them and Magnus walked behind them. He locked the door to his bedroom, pausing dramatically. As they entered the party again, a musical group was getting on the stage. Faeries.

"I hate faerie bands," Magnus muttered as they started their song. Faerie music was the kind of music only girls would like. Sappy, delicate and disgusting. "All they ever play is mopey ballads." Jace laughed, glancing at all of the sappy girls singing along to this crap.

Speaking of sappy girls. "Where's Isabelle?"

Clary spun around, her eyes wandering everywhere. Jace looked in the opposite direction. No sign of her. "I don't see him," Clary said. Jace rolled his eyes. "Them, I mean."

"There she is." Alec was waving Izzy over, his face washed with relief. "Over here. And watch out for the phouka." he yelled to her.

Jace looked over at the phouka. "Watch out for the phouka?"

"He pinched me when I passed him earlier," Alec looked uncomfortable. "In a highly personal area."

Jace grinned. "I hate to break it to you, but if he's interested in your highly personal areas, he probably isn't interested in your sister's."

"Not necessarily," said Magnus, who Jace forgot was here. "Faeries aren't particular."

Jace looked at him. "You still here?"

Magnus was about to retort something nasty, but Izzy came over, frantic. "Jace! Alec! Where have you been? I've been looking all over-"

"Where's Simon?" Clary interrupted.

Izzy looked down at the ground and Jace knew she felt guilty of something. "He's a rat,"

Jace was happy she finally realized. Clary on the other hand, looked appalled.

"Did he do something to you?" Alec said, sounding like the older brother he was. "Did he touch you? If he tried anything-"

"No, Alec," she was embarrassed. "Not like that. He's a _rat_."

"She's drunk," said Jace, who was planning on just leaving without Simon.

"I'm not," she whined. "Well, maybe a little, but that's not the point. The point is, Simon drank one of those blue drinks- I told him not to, but he didn't listen- and he _turned into a rat."_

"A _rat?" _Clary repeated. She sounded pretty pissed off. "You don't mean..."

"I mean a rat," Izzy stated. "Little. Brown. Scaly tail."

"The Clave isn't going to like this," Alec shook his head. "I'm pretty sure turning mundanes into rats is against the Law."

"Technically she didn't turn him into a rat," Jace said, casually. "The worst she could be accused of is negligence."

"Who _cares _about the stupid Law?" Clary screamed. She yanked Isabelle's wrists and held them, her own shaking. "My best friend is a rat!"

"Clary," Jace warned. She ignored him completely.

"Ouch!" Izzy was pulling. Clary must have a strong grip. If it's anything like her arm strength that had been experienced on his face, then this had to hurt. "Let go of me!"

"Not until you tell me where he is." She spat. "I can't believe you just left him-he's probably terrified-"

"If he hasn't been stepped on," Jace thought it was important to mention.

"I didn't leave him. He ran under the bar," Izzy protested. "Let go! You're denting my bracelet!"

"Bitch," Clary said as she back handed Izzy in the face. Jace's mouth opened. He ran to Izzy as Clary ran to the bar. He steadied Isabelle to keep her on her feet.

"Jace!" Izzy screamed.

"What did I do? I didn't just back hand you!" Jace said, waving his arms around.

"If it weren't for... ugh!" she ran over to the bar with Clary. Jace ran after her.

"Is he under there?" Jace asked.

She nodded, but held a finger to him. "Shh. You'll frighten him off." She slid her fingers under the bar. "Please come out, Simon. We'll get Magnus to reverse the spell. It'll be okay."

A pink nose appeared from under the bar. Clary snatched him with excitement. "Simon! You understood me!" She hugged him as if he were a toy. "Oh poor baby," she crooned. Jace scowled. "Poor Simon, it'll be fine, I promise-"

"I wouldn't feel too sorry for him," Jace said, interrupting the puke fest. "That's probably the closest he's ever been to second base."

"Shut _up!" _She yelled. Jace caught the glare she shot at him and flinched. By the Angel. "Get Magnus," she ordered him. "We have to turn him back."

"Let's not be hasty." Jace looked at the mundane-rat and grinned. He reached towards him. "He's cute like that. Look at his pink nose."

The rat barred his teeth and Jace, threatening to bite him. He snapped at him, making Jace take his hand back. "Izzy, go fetch our magnificent host."

"Why me?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"Because it's your fault the mundane's a rat, idiot," he said. "And we can't leave him here alone." _As much as i want to._

"You'd be happy to leave him if it weren't for _her," _Izzy said. Jace made a face at her as she flounced away. He awkwardly ran his hand through his hair.

"I can't believe she let you drink that blue drink," Clary was now talking to her pet rat. "Now you see what you get for being so shallow."

Izzy was back with Magnus in the middle of Clary's statement, and it made her furious. Magnus laughed and raised his arched eyebrows at Izzy. He leaned over to see Simon. _"Rattus norvegicus," _he said, as if from a textbook. "A common brown rat, nothing exotic."

"I don't care what kind of rat he is," Clary said. "I want him to turn back."

Magnus shook his head. "No point," he said.

"That's what I said." Jace pointed out.

"NO POINT?" Clary shouted, so loud Jace swore the floor shook. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THERE'S NO POINT?"

"Because he'll turn back on his own in a few hours," said Magnus. "The effect of the cocktails is temporary. No point in working up a transformation spell; it'll just traumatize him. Too much magic is hard on mundanes, their systems aren't used to it."

"I doubt his system isn't used to being a rat, either." She was so stubborn. "You're a warlock, can't you just reverse the spell?"

"No," Magnus said, although it was obvious that he could.

"You mean you won't."

"Not for free, darling, and you can't afford me."

"I can't take a rat home on the subway either," Clary said, rolling her eyes at Magnus adorably. "I'll drop him, or one of the MTA police will arrest me for transporting pests on the transit system." The rat squealed annoyingly. "Not that you're a pest, of course." Jace was about ready to turn _himself_ into a rat.

A group of vampires were huddled by the door. A girl with black hair, like Isabelle's, but not nearly as long, was shouting along with other creepy looking bloodsuckers. Magnus seemed to hear and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. Then he left with nothing but an 'excuse me,' backing into the crowd, leaving them alone.

Isabelle sighed. "So much for _his _help."

"You know," Alec said. "you could always put the rat in your backpack."

Jace didn't see anything wrong with the idea, but Clary's eyes narrowed at Alec. He shrugged and Clary took her backpack off. She opened it and hesitated before putting Simon in there. "I'm sorry," she croaked.

"Don't bother," Jace said, bringing back his pet peeve to her attention. "Why mundanes always insist on taking responsibility for things that weren't their fault is a mystery to me. You didn't force the cocktail down his idiotic throat." It was meant as a compliment, really. But Isabelle elbowed him in the rib.

Clary still looked down at her backpack. She had her hand pressed against her forehead and he heard her sniffle, like she was crying. Maybe she was. Simon was her best friend. And he liked her, and it seemed to Jace that Clary had some feelings for him as well. Jace felt his heart speed up. He could never be that. He could be her friend, her acquaintance, her hero even, if she got into anymore trouble. But he would never fulfill the 'best friend' slot. "If it weren't for me, he wouldn't be here at all,"

"Don't flatter yourself. He came here because of Isabelle." Which might have been true.

Clary zipped up her bag roughly and stood up. "Let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place."

The vampires were still crowded at the door. All of there hair was died black and they were all pale-skinned. Some of them had piercings, probably just to make them look more bad-ass. They were complaining about bike vandalism, that actually wasn't their doing. Some of there friends were missing, too. "They're probably drunk and passed out somewhere," Magnus said. His posture was slouchy and he looked like he was ready for the party to be over with. "You know how you lot tend to turn into bats and piles of dust when you've downed a few too many Bloody Mary's."

"They mix their vodka with real blood," Jace whispered into Clary's ear. She was so close he could feel her shiver. He almost offered her his jacket, but thought that would be strange.

"Yes, I got that, thanks."

"We can't go around picking up every pile of dust in the place just in case it turns out to be Gregor in the morning," said a whiny goth chic.

"Gregor will be fine. I rarely sweep," Magnus assured. "I'm happy to send any stragglers back to the hotel come tomorrow- in a car with blacked-out windows, of course."

"But what about our motorbikes?" said another whiny thin boy. "It'll take hours to fix them."

"You've got until sunrise," Magnus was shaking with anger. Understandable, it's not his problem. "I suggest you get started." His voice rose like Mayrse when we criticized Izzy's meals. "All right, that's IT! Party's over! Everybody out!" He waved his angry arms, silencing the crowd. Their smiles all turned to pouts.

Jace pushed Clary ahead. "Come on." Her hands were wrapped around her backpack, like a protective child. The crowd moved slowly, and he saw drunk vampire bump into Clary. She stumbled sideways and yelped.

"Hey, pretty thing," the skunk said. "What's in the bag?"

Jace was by her side in an instant, hiding her from him. He growled at the vampire. "Holy water,"

"Ooh, a _Shadowhunter," _he said. "Scary." He winked at her and walked back into the crowd.

"Vampires are _such _prima donnas," Magnus sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, I don't know why I have these parties."

"Because of your cat," Clary reminded him. Jace cracked a smile.

So did Magnus, and he stood up straighter, too. "That's true. Chairman Meow deserves my every effort." He glanced at the four of them. "You on your way out?"

Jace nodded. "Don't want to overstay our welcome." he said, for once politely.

"What welcome?" Magnus asked bitterly. _The one time..._ Jace decided politeness wasn't his thing. "I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but it wasn't. Not that you aren't fairly charming, and as for you-" he winked at Alec, which wasn't so bizarre considering he was a guy covered in glitter from head to toe. "Call me?"

Alec blushed and stuttered and Jace had to pry him away. Magnus held Clary back. They gave them some privacy. They went to the warehouse not far away.

Isabelle was leaning on Alec's shoulder, crying. She was upset. Not guilty upset, but genuinely upset about what happened to her little mundane toy.

Jace was watching the vampires attempting to fix their bikes. "Oh my g-" a vampire cut off. Must be a newbie. "Ugh!" Jace smiled. They all joined in on the swearing and stomping and any other entertaining angry motions. Jace saw Clary walking toward them. Her eyes were on Isabelle, balling and whining to Alec. The two of them started to walk ahead. Jace half walked, half ran over to Clary's side. They walked in complete silence.

Clary was complicated. Every girl liked him. It was like he put all of them under this ridiculously sick spell, and they all fell. All but Clary. Most of the time it was cool, to have someone to talk to who wasn't drooling all over you, but other times it was frustrating. All she worried about was her poor little mundane friend and if he was okay, or if he was having a nice time. When all the idiot did was hang over Isabelle.

Clary slowed down and he was in front of her. He turned around as she was panicking and going through her pack. "What's wrong?" He was about to ask if she was trying to get a get view of him from behind, sarcastically of course, but she was tremendously pale and her eyes were wide. "Clary?"

"He's gone," she whispered. "Simon. He was in my backpack-"

"Did he climb out?" _Idiot._

_"Of course he didn't!"_ she screamed at him. "What, you think he wanted to get smashed under someone's car, killed by a cat-"

"Clary-"

"Shut up!" she swung the backpack at him. "You were the one who said not to bother changing him back-"

Jace caught the bag and took it from her. He examined it. "The zipper's torn," he said. "From the outside. Someone ripped this bag open." He remembered the skanky vampire.

Clary shook her head vigorously. "I didn't..."

"I know." He cupped his hands around his mouth. He knew what Simon meant to her. "Alec! Isabelle! You go ahead! We'll catch up."

Alec hesitated, but Izzy grabbed his arm, pulling him along to hear the rest of her sob story. Jace put his hand on her back, leading her trembling body to Magnus's building. Jace was worried. Not for Simon, he knew that. If Simon was gone it would crush her. She would never speak to him again, she would mourn for a _very_ long time, and Jace would have to live with the fact that it was partially his fault. When they were at the building, Jace pressed Magnus's doorbell.

"Jace,' she said, her voice scared and soft.

He looked down at her. She looked like she was going to cry, but he knew she wouldn't. That's how Clary was. "What?"

It took her a second to reply. "Do you think he's all right?"

"Simon?" No. That was the answer Jace thought in his head. He normally spoke the truth, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell her that she might never see Simon again. So, avoiding the truth and the lie, he rang the buzzer again.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY REST?" Magnus boomed. He was a pretty creepy guy.

"Jace Wayland. Remember? I'm from the Clave."

"Oh, yes." Magnus's voice sounded... flirty. "Are you the one with the blue eyes?"

"He means Alec," Clary quietly said.

"No. My eyes are usually described as golden," he informed Magnus. "And luminous." he added for his own benefit.

"Oh, you're _that _one." Jace found that offensive. "I suppose you'd better come up."

Magnus opened the door for them. He was wearing god awful pajamas. Something silky and a gold turban. "I was sleeping," he said, annoyed.

Jace was thinking of a million insults in his head when Clary spoke up. "Sorry to bother you-" she stared at a tiny ball of with fur appearing around Magnus's ankles. "Chairman Meow?" she changed subjects.

Magnus nodded, seeming proud of his cat. "He has returned."

Jace squinted at the creature. "That's not a cat," he observed. "It's the size of a hamster."

"I am kindly going to forget you said that," the warlock said. He nudged the cat back with his foot. "Now, exactly what did you come here for?"

Clary held out her torn back pack. "It's Simon. He's missing."

"Ah," Magnus cooed. "Missing what, exactly?"

"_Missing," _Jace repeated, losing patience. "as in gone, absent, notable for his lack of presence, disappeared."

"Maybe he's gone and hidden under something," Magnus suggested with a shrug. "It can't be easy getting used to being a rat, especially for someone so dim-witted in the first place."

"Simon's not dim-wiited," Clary protested.

"It's true," Jace nodded. "He just _looks_ dim-witted. Really his intelligence is quite average." Jace tried to let loose but he was tense. He knew looking for one rat in Brooklyn was going to be tricky. "When we were leaving, one of your guests brushed up against Clary. I think he tore her bag open and took the rat. Simon, I mean."

Magnus blankly stared at him. "And?"

"And I need you to find out who he it was," said Jace. He hoped he wouldn't have to pay. Mayrse would kill him. "I'm guessing you know. You _are_ the High Warlock of Brooklyn. I'm thinking not much happens in your own apartment that you don't know about."

Magnus was inspecting his nail. "You're not wrong."

"Please tell us," Clary pleaded. Jace grabbed her wrist and squeezed it. _Shut up. _"Please."

Magnus dropped a tired hand and sighed. "Fine. I saw one of the vampire bike kids from the uptown lair leave with a brown rat in his hands. Honestly, I figured it was one of their own. Sometimes the Night Children turn into rats or bats when they get drunk."

Clary's hand shook in his wrist. "But now you think it's _Simon?"_

"It's just a guess, but it seems likely.

"There's one more thing." Jace was prepared for a nasty vampire fight. "Where's their lair?"

"Their what?"

"The vampire's lair. That's where they went, isn't it?"

"I would imagine so." Magnus was stalling.

"I need you to tell me where it is." He was alert.

He shook his head. "I'm not setting myself on the bad side of the Night Children for a mundane I don't even know."

"Wait," Clary interrupted. "What would they want with Simon? I thought they weren't allowed to hurt people..."

"My guess?" said Magnus, harsh. "They assumed he was a tame rat and thought it would be funny to kill a Shadowhunter's pet. They don't like you much, whatever the Accords say- and there's nothing in the Covenant about not killing animals."

The shaking stopped. "They're going to kill him?"

"Not necessarily." Magnus admitted. "They might have thought it was one of their own."

"In which case, what'll happen to him?" Clary demanded.

"Well, when he turns back into human, they'll _still _kill him. But you might have a few more hours."

"Then you have to help us," she pleaded. "Otherwise, Simon will die."

Magnus looked at her with sarcastic pity. "They all die, dear. You might as well get used to it."

He began to shut the door, but Jace wedged it open with his foot.

"What now?"

"You still haven't told us where the lair is," Jace said.

"And I'm not going to. I told you-"

"You messed with my brain," Clary said, strong. "Took my memories. Can't you do this one thing for me?" Ah, the guilt card.

Magnus narrowed his eyes and considered it. "The Hotel Dumont." he said. "Uptown."

Jace nodded. "I know where that is."

"We need to get there right away. Do you have a Portal?" Clary demanded.

"No." Magnus rolled his eyes. "Portals are quite difficult to construct and pose no small risk to their owner. Nasty things can come through them if they're not warded properly. The only ones I know of in New York are the one at Dorothea's and the one at Renwick's, but they're both too far away to be worth the bother of trying to get there, even if you were sure their owners would let you use them, which they probably wouldn't. Got that? Now go away." Magnus glared at Jace's foot, still wedged in the door. It stayed there.

"One more thing," Jace said. "Is there a holy place around here?"

"Good idea. If you're going to take on a lair of vampires by yourself, you'd better pray first."

"We need weapons," Jace said through clentched teeth. "More than what we've got on us."

Magnus pointed. "There's a Catholic church down on Diamond Street. Will that do?"

Jace nodded and stepped back. "That's-"

The door slammed as Jace grabbed Clary's arm and they headed toward the Church.

* * *

**Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14: The Hotel Dumort

**Hi guys! I know I haven't written in a while, and I am sorry, but personally, I love this chapter, so hopefully this will be a good return! I really hope you like it!**

CHAPTER 14: THE HOTEL DUMORT

* * *

They were at the gate of the Diamond Street church, which looked ghostly in the night air. Clary rattled the front gate but it wouldn't budge. "It's locked," she said, glancing at Jace behind her shoulder.

Jace took out his stele, already warm. "Let me at it." He started picking the lock and it clicked open. The padlock hit the floor and Jace felt proud of himself. "As usual," he said. "I'm amazingly good at that."

"When the self-congratualatory part of the evening is over, maybe we could get back to saving my best friend from being exsanguinated to death?"

"Exsanguinated," Jace repeated. "That's a big word."

"And you're a big-"

"Tsk tsk," he waved his finger at her. "No swearing in church."

"We're not _in_ the church yet," she muttered. They headed up the stone path that led to the doors. Jace spun his stele in his hand, as they got to the beautiful double doors. "It seems wrong to pick the lock on a church door, somehow."

"We're not going to," he said. He put his stele back into his pocket and putting his hand on the door. He took a deep breath because he could feel her staring at him, shaking up his nerves. "In the name of the Clave," he said, "I ask entry to this holy place. In the name of the Battle That Never Ends, I ask the use of your weapons. And in the name of the Angel Raziel, I ask your blessing on your mission against darkness."

Jace waited, knowing that it sometimes took a while. The wind blew hard into his eyes and he blinked, his eyes watering. After a couple minutes, the door creaked open. The interior of the church was lit with points of fire.

Jace stepped back, "After you."

She stepped inside and he followed. Clary was taking her time, examining every little thing. As they were walking, he noticed her shivering.

"The stone walls keep out the heat," he said.

"It's not that," she said, sounding slightly embarrassed. "You know, I've never been in a church before."

"You've been in the Institute." He pointed out.

"I mean in a real church. For services. That sort of thing."

"Really. Well, this is the nave, where the pews are. It's where people sit during services." They moved up, and Jace realized how much he liked being the tour guide. "Up here is the apse. That's where we're standing. And this is the alter, where the priest performs the Eucharist. It's always at the east side of the church." He knelt by the alter, searching for where the weapons were held. His fingers were rapidly moving for the spot. They are usually simple to find. The floor was dusty and it was showing up on his fingertips.

"Jace," Clary whispered. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for weapons." he replied frantically.

"Here?"

"They'd be hidden, usually around the alter. Kept for our use in case of emergencies."

"And this is what, some kind of deal you have with the Catholic Church?"

"Not specifically. Demons have been on Earth as long as we have. They're all over the world, in their different forms- Greek daemons, Persian _daevas, _Hindu _asuras, _Japanese _oni. _Most belief systems have some method of incorporating both their existence and the fight against them. Shadowhunters cleave to no single religion, and in turn all religions assist us in our battle. I could as easily have gone for help to a Jewish synagogue or a Shinto temple, or- Ah. Here it is." Finally. He brushed the dust away and Clary dropped to his side.

Jace saw the rune that meant "Nephilim" and touched his stele to the stone. He moved it back and forth, revealing the compartment that held their weapons. He opened the compartment to find the long wooden box that they had always found. He opened it up to see the weapons that they would need in this fight. He smiled, glad that they had what they would need.

"What are all these?" Clary asked, her breath whispering in his ear.

He started to pull out all the objects, making a mental checklist. "Vials of holy water, blessed knives, stele and silver blades, electrum wire- not much use at the moment, but it's always good to have spare- silver bullets, charms of protection, crucifixes, stars of David-"

"Jesus," Clary interrupted.

"I doubt he'd fit."

_"Jace." _Her mouth opened in shock.

"What?"

"I don't know, it seems wrong to make jokes like that in a church."

He shrugged. "I'm not really a believer."

She squinted, as if she was trying to find some sort of evidence on him that would prove him wrong. "You're not?"

He grabbed one of the holy water vials and examined it, shaking his head in response, his hair in his eyes. While he was looking down, he noticed Clary's hand twitch. "You thought I was religious?" he asked, hiding his smile.

"Well. If there are demons, there must be..."

"Must be what?" Jace slide the holy water into his pocket. "Ah," he said. "You mean if there's this"- he pointed to the ground- "there must be this." He pointed towards the ceiling of the church that they were in. It did kind of feel wrong, being in a holy place and making fun of the religious. But, he was used to it.

"It stands to reason. Doesn't it?"

He then examined the hilt of the blade on the ground. "I'll tell you," he said. "I've been killing demons for a third of my life. I must have sent five hundred of them back to whatever hellish dimension they crawled out of. And in all that time- in _ all_ that time- I've never seen an angel. Never even heard of anyone who has."

"But it was an angel who created Shadowhunters in the first place," Clary said. "That's what Hodge said."

"It makes a nice story." Jace was looking at her now. She looked uncomfortable, which is understandable considering the dress she was wearing. "My father believed in God," he said. "I don't."

"At all?" Was she a believer? She seemed to be pushing him, but she had mentioned that she hadn't gone to church before. He saw her finger twitch again, and her jaw was clenched making her look tense. Was he angering her? He almost wanted to lie for her, tell her he'd believe in anything she wanted him to believe in, but Jace was no liar. He took his eyes off of her.

"Let me put it this way," he said, sliding more blades into his belt. "My father believed in a righteous God. _Deus volt, _that was his motto- 'because God wills it.' It was the Crusaders' motto, and they went out to battle and were slaughtered, just like my father. And when I saw him lying in a pool of his own blood, I knew then that I hadn't stopped believing in God. I'd just stopped believing God cared. There might be a God, Clary, and there might not, but I don't think it matters. Either way, we're on our own."

* * *

They were alone on the subway as they were heading toward the Hotel. Jace and Clary were not speaking, but it didn't feel awkward. Jace had plenty of things in his mind to entertain him at the moment, he didn't even know if he could handle conversation. The image of Pangborn and Blackwell popped into his head, like it did everyday. Images of Clary's hand cracking against Isabelle's face was vivid. And the look of loss in Clary's eyes when she found out her best friend might be dead.

He turned to look at her. Her eyes were glossy and a tear spilled over. She seemed oblivious to it though. She stared off into space, lips pursed as if it were the only thing she could do to keep her from screaming Simon's name.

Jace opened his mouth, trying to find something comforting to say, but nothing came out. He tried that throughout the ride, but there was nothing he_ could_ say.

The subway pulled to a stop and they scrambled out, as if anyone else were on. The air was grungy and the streets deserted. It was heavily polluted and the hotel was nowhere in sight.

After an agonizing hour of walking, looking and hopeless sighing, Clary tapped him in the arm.

"Hmm...?" He turned to where her gaze was headed.

The sign was originally the "Hotel Dumont," but someone had painted out the "N" and replaced it with an "R".

"Hotel Dumort," Jace said, reading off the poorly done paint job. "Cute."

Jace translated Dumort in his head. Clary did out loud. "_Du mort," _she whispered. "Of death."

Jace nodded and tensed.

"But it can't be the hotel," Clary said. "The windows are all boarded up, and the door's been bricked over-" Jace raised an eyebrow and cocked a smile, that sort of said 'your stupid.' She caught it. "Oh, right. Vampires. But how do they get inside?"

"They fly," Jace pointed toward the top of the building.

The stood there staring at the Hotel. "We don't fly," Clary pointed out.

Jace shook his head. "No," he said. "We don't fly. We break and enter." He started to walk closer to the building.

"Flying sounds like more fun," Clary said, struggling to keep up.

"Right now, everything sounds more fun." Jace said, though, he honestly was looking forward to fighting vampires. He will put everything he has in this fight, if there is a fight.

Everything was deserted and the hotel looked nasty. Flickering lights, browning grass, leaves that need to be raked. But that's what you could expect from vampires. Clary walked up to one of the lights.

"Stay out of the light," he said, grabbing her sleeve and pulling her towards him. "They might be watching from the windows. And don't look up," he added, but when he looked at her, her head was tilted toward the top of the building, her mouth open and eyes full of wonder. Looking at the windows through the boards can be a little too fascinating. Jace, of course, knew this from experience. He has seen flickering images that could leave him wondering for days.

"Come _on," _Jace, who was still holding onto her arm, yanked her along with him. He could feel the pulse in her arm quickening, as was his. But he wasn't nervous or scared. No, before a fight Jace was never either of those things. Jace was excited. The only thing that made him nervous... was _her. _She won't know what she is doing. Her steps are uneven and if she makes one wrong move, she could be killed. He was determined to protect her, and he knew they wouldn't get through him. But she would stop at nothing to get her... rat boy back. Even if that meant sacrificing herself.

They crept up the ally that was full of the vampires' trash. Jace had looked through it before. Bad mistake.

Clary slowed her pace, slowing Jace down with her. He awkwardly let go of her arm, but she didn't notice. She was staring at the garbage. "Bones," he answered her unasked question. "Dog bones, cat bones. Don't look too closely; going through the vampires' trash is rarely a pretty picture."

She put her hand to her throat, as if trying to stop nausea. "Well," she said. "at least we know we're in the right place," Jace looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Oh, we're in the right place," he said. "Now we just have to figure out how to get inside."

The windows were all blocked up and there was no door anywhere. "When this was a hotel," Jace said, his eyes wandering around the dump. "they must've gotten their deliveries here. I mean, they wouldn't have brought things through the front door, and there's no place else for trucks to pull up. So there must be a way in."

Jace's mood deflated when he realized where the doors probably were.

"I bet the doors are in the ground. Probably buried under all this garbage." Clary said.

Jace nodded. "That's what I was thinking." He sighed. "I guess we'd better move the trash. We can start with the Dumpster." he pointed at it and then rubbed his temples, trying to prevent the headache that the stench would give off.

"You'd rather be facing a ravening horde of demons, wouldn't you?" Clary said.

"At least they wouldn't be crawling with maggots. Well," he added, realizing that he was being kind of bitter. "not most of them, anyway. There was this one demon, once, that I tracked down to the sewers under Grand Central-"

"Don't." Clary closed her eyes and held her hand out. "I'm not really in the mood right now."

Jace was taken aback. He didn't know why though. This was Clary, and she never cared for Jace's selfish behavior, and bragging. "That's got to be the first time a girl's ever said that to me."

"Stick with me and it won't be the last." Jace had to fight the urge to smile.

"This is hardly the time for idle banter. We have garbage to haul." He grabbed one side of the Dumpster, and tried to avoid her eyes. "You get the other. We'll tip it."

"Tipping it will make too much noise," Clary argued, walking over to the other side of the Dumpster. She looked in it, which Jace refused to do, and her face twisted in a disgusted manner. "We should push it."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Now, look-" he heard a voice sneaking from behind the shadows.

"Do you really think you should be doing that?" the intimidating male voice asked.

Jace froze, shock running through his body. The first thing he did was put his hand on his belt. He swallowed loudly, getting rid of his fear. "Is there someone there?"

_"Dios mio." _He spoke in an amused voice. "You're not from this neighborhood, are you?"

He stepped out from the shadows, slowly. The shape of a boy, that had to be Jace's age, maybe a little older. He was _short. _Not Clary short, but at least 6 inches shorter than Jace. His skin honey-colored, and he was dressed in black slacks and an open white shirt. On his chest hung a chain, that looked like one that one would hang a cross on. He didn't look that intimidating.

"You could say that," Jace said, his hand still near his belt.

"You shouldn't be here." The boy raked his hand through his mass of thick black curls. "This place is dangerous."

The corner of Clary's mouth twitched. "We know," she said. "We just got a little lost, that's all."

The boy pointed at the Dumpster they were still holding. "What were you doing with that?"

Clary looked at Jace desperately. "We were trying to get into the hotel. We thought there might be a cellar door behind the trash bin." Lying wasn't his thing.

Clary shook her head, a mass of red curls flaring at him in disgust. Jace couldn't help but smile.

The other boy widened his eyes. _"Putra madre- _why would you want to do something like that?"

Jae shrugged, now stretching the truth. "For a prank, you know. Just a little fun."

"You don't understand. This place is haunted, cursed. Bad luck." He was shaking his head as if he, himself were frightened. Perhaps he had. But then, what was he doing in the shadows? "Walk with me, I'll take you to the subway."

"We know where the subway is." Does this guy think they're stupid? He must be working with the vampires. His job must be to keep people like them away from the hotel.

He laughed. _"Claro. _Of course you do, but if you go with me, no one will bother you. You do not want trouble, do you?"

"That depends," Jace moved to wear the boy could see the weapons in his belt. "How much are they paying you to keep people away from this hotel?"

The boy glanced behind him and Jace mentally planned his attack and protection. He cursed himself for not training Clary earlier. "How much are who paying me, _chico?"_

"The vampires. How much are they paying you? Or is it something else- did they tell you they'd make you one of them, offer you eternal life, no pain, no sickness, you get to live forever? Because it's not worth it. Life stretches out very long when you never see the sunlight, _chico," _Jace mocked.

The boy didn't move, or flinch. No reaction. "My name is Raphael. Not _chico." _

Right when Jace was about to say that his name wasn't _chico _either, Clary spoke. "But you know what we're talking about? You know about the vampires?" Jace could tell she was still having a hard time believing it.

Raphael turned to the side and spit. Jace always thought that was nasty, even though it seemed as if most boys did that these days. _"Los vampiros, __si, _the blood-drinking animals. Even before the hotel was boarded up, there were stories, the laughter late at night, the small animals disappearing, the sounds-" He shook his head, and Clary looked worried. Probably about the animal comment. "Everyone in this neighborhood knows to stay away, but what can you do? You cannot call the police and tell them your problem is vampires."

"Have you ever seen them?" Jace asked. "Or known anyone that as?" Jace assumed Raphael was a mundane, but that means somebody must have shown him the vampires so he could see them, like Simon had. But if he was like Clary, who had already had the sight, than... he could be something else. A vampire, perhaps?

Raphael spoke slowly. "There were some boys, once, a group of friends. They thought they had a good idea, to go into the hotel and kill the monsters inside. The took guns with them , knives too, all blessed by a priest. They never came out. My aunt, she found their clothes later, in front of the house."

"Your aunt's house?" Jace asked.

_"Si. _One of the boys was my brother," Raphael said with no emotion. "So now you know why I walk by here in the middle of the night sometimes, on the way home from my aunt's house, and why I warned you away. If you go in there, you will not come out again."

"My friend is in there," Clary cracked, telling the rest of the truth. "We came to get him."

"Ah," said Raphael thoughtfully. "then perhaps I cannot warn you away."

"No," Jace said. "But don't worry. What happened to your friends won't happen to us." He took out a seraph blade and it lit up.

Raphael took a sharp breath and mumbled more Spanish. He was afraid, or excited. It was hard to tell. "I know what you are- I have heard about your kind, from the old padre at St. Celia's. I thought that was just a story."

Clary mumbled something about stories, but Jace didn't quite hear it.

"I want to go with you," Raphael said.

"No. Absolutely not."

"I can show you how to get inside."

Jace hesitated. They needed to do this quickly, or Simon would be a dead rat. But Raphael doesn't seem trustworthy. "We can't bring you."

"Fine." He kicked some of the trash out of the way, making himself look needy. But behind the trash was a silver grating with rusty old bars attached to the front. Raphael grabbed a hold on the grating and pulled it open, revealing an entrance for them. "This is how my brother and his friends got in. It goes down to the basement, I think." He looked at Jace and Clary stepped to his side.

Jace smiled as he looked down at the drop they were going to have to make. "Thanks," he said to Raphael. "This will work just fine."

"You go in there and do for your friend what I could not do for my brother." He said sadly.

Jace slipped the blade into his belt and looked over his shoulder at Clary. "Follow me," he said as he dropped down into the tunnel. He heard Clary gasp, but Jace was having fun. He landed feet first. "It's fine," he called up to her. "Jump down and I'll catch you."

He held his hands out, readying himself for her fall. Her heard her small yelp escape her mouth as she fell into his arms. His hand grazed her bare thigh and he let go of her immediately, his heart beating faster at her touch. "You all right?"

"I'm fine." They couldn't see anything down here. Jace ached to hold her again, but shook the thought off. He had to remember _who _they're here for anyway.

They were in a low-ceilinged room with cracked cement floors. There were black vines all around the walls. Far ahead there was a doorway with no door, practically calling them to it,

He heard a loud thump coming from behind them. Raphael. He followed them. Jace scowled furiously. "I told you-"

"And I heard you." Raphael's hand waved dismissively. "What are you going to do about it? I can't get back the way we came in, and you can't just leave me here for the dead to find... can you?"

Jace looked at the... mundane? With disgust. "I'm thinking about it,"

Raphael pointed. "We must go that way, towards the stairs. They are up on the higher floors of the hotel. You will see." Jace felt Raphael push past him and he clenched his fists and shook his head.

"I'm really starting to hate mundanes," he said.

* * *

The lower floor of the hotel was... disgusting. Literally, trash on the floor, piles of laundry in corners of rooms, dust everywhere they looked. Jace shuddered, and he felt Clary twitch. The only person who seemed unaffected by the filth was Raphael, which came to no surprise to Jace. The staircases were no longer staircases. They were rotted and there was no way they could climb them, because they would crumble under their feet. After searching for a good ten to fifteen minutes, they found some stairs that weren't harmed behind the piles of laundry.

Clary coughed at the dust layer covering the stairs.

"Shh," hissed Raphael. "They will hear you. We are close to where they sleep."

"How do _you _know?" she hissed at him in a way that said she was entirely irritated. So was Jace, and he was still questioning the possibility of Raphael being a Night Child.

"I can feel it." Raphael said. "Can't you?"

Clary shook her head. Jace rolled his eyes at the so-called-mundane. Of course she can't sense that. Jace couldn't even sense it, and Jace is always prepared for everything.

At the top of the stairs was the door to the lobby. It said the word "Lobby" on it, because vampires are just _that _smart, apparently. When Jace opened it, it sprayed rust and made a creaking sound. The room was completely empty and Jace sighed. This was going to be the longest rat hunt ever. Great. Rat hunt. It even sounded lame.

The room was large, with ripped and rotted carpet, showing torn up wood boards underneath. In the center of the room was a great empty space, besides the top of the room where you can see there used to be a giant, gorgeous stairway leading to another floor, but seeing as stairs are completely useless to vampires, they got rid of them.

Clary sounded like she had been smoking, due to the dust that was covering their throats. "What do vampires have against stairs?"

"Nothing," said Jace. "They just don't need to use them."

"It is a way of showing that this place is one of _theirs." _Raphael said, his eyes shining. Jace eyed him sideways. He has a scar on his throat. That's peculiar.

"Have you ever actually seen a vampire, Raphael?" he asked, smiling in the dark because the wall that Raphael had built around himself, Jace was knocking down piece by piece.

"I know what they look like," Raphael said, matter-of-factly. "They are paler, thinner than human beings, but very strong. They walk like cats and spring with the swiftness of serpents. They are beautiful and terrible. Like this hotel."

"You think it's beautiful?" Clary asked.

"You can see where it was, years ago. Like an old woman who was once beautiful, but time has taken her beauty away. You must imagine this staircase the way it was once, with the gas lamps burning all up and down the steps, like fireflies in the dark, and the balconies full of people. Not the way it is now, so-" he broke off.

"Truncated?" Jace suggested.

Raphael, froze, then nervously laughed.

Clary spun around to look at Jace. Her hair brushed against his arm as she turned. "Where are they, anyway? The vampires, I mean."

"Upstairs, probably. They like to be high up when they sleep, like bats. And it's nearly sunrise." Jace observed.

Clary and Raphael looked up, but there was just a bare, cracked ceiling. No sunlight. Jace would love to see the look on Raphael's face if the sun were rising and he was there, that is, if Jace's theory was correct. Jace fixed his gaze on Clary, whose gaze was fixed on Raphael's neck. _The scar. _She see's it, too. He wondered if she were having the same accusations as he was.

Clary stepped closer to Jace and looked up at him. "I think we should go back to the servants' stairs," she whispered, concern in her voice. "I feel too exposed out here."

Jace nodded. "You realize, once we get there, you'll have to call out for Simon and hope he can here you?"

A flash of fear showed on her small face. He hadn't meant to scare or upset her, just prepare her, but he automatically felt guilty. "I-"

A scream interrupted her sentence. Jace turned around and the other boy was missing.

There were no footprints in the dust as to where Raphael could have dissapeered to. Jace knew that that could only be accomplished if you were a vampire. It's resolved, Raphael isn't who he said he was. Running with the witchlight in his hand, he followed the bloodcurdling scream. He passed an archway that probably used to be elegant and entered into the ballroom, which was filthy as well. Jace slowed his pace as he saw the vampire standing perfectly still.

Clary rushed passed Jace and towards Raphael. "Are you all right?" she asked.

He nodded slowly. "I thought I saw a movement in the shadows. It was nothing."

"We've decided to head back to the servants' stairs," Jace said. "There's nothing on this floor."

"Good idea." He nodded.

Jace headed for the door, but he couldn't take the fact that this thing was acting like he didn't know anything, acting as if he were a foolish mundane. Jace stopped, dead in his tracks. "Raphael?"

Raphael turned and Jace threw his knife at the vampire. He was swift about his movements, but the blade hit him, slightly to the side of his heart. Jace cursed himself silently.

Clary looked at Jace in astonishment. _"Jace," _she hissed at him, gasping at the body that lay below her. She headed toward Raphael, but Jace tossed her to the side. He jumped on the vampire and grabbed for the blade in his chest, but Raphael got to it first. He was screaming and it dropped, heavy to the marble floor. Jace grabbed Raphael's shirt and held Sanvi in his other hand. It lit up, as if it was angry as well.

Raphael was not intimidated. In fact, he was laughing at him. "You missed," he said, grinning, showing the fangs he had hidden with his brutal frown he had been wearing. "You missed my heart."

"You moved at the last minute," Jace said. "That was very inconsiderate."

Raphael spit blood to the floor, as Clary jumped back. "When did you figure it out?" his voice was thick with his accent and bitter tone he had added for color.

"I guessed in the alley," Jace said. "But I figured you'd get us inside the hotel, then turn on us. Once we'd trespassed, we'd have been out of the protection of the Covenant. Fair game. When you didn't, I thought I might have been wrong. Then I saw that scar on your throat." Jace sat back, moving the blade from the side, to his neck. "I thought when I first saw that chain that it looked like the sort you'd hang a cross from. And you did, didn't you, when you went out to see your family? What's the scar of a little burn when your kind heal so quickly?"

Raphael laughed. "Was that all? My scar?"

"When you left the foyer, your feet didn't leave marks in the dust. Then I knew."

"It wasn't your brother who went in here looking for monsters and never came out, was it?" Clary asked. "It was you."

"Your both very clever," he said. "Although not quite clever enough. Look up," his hand lifted toward the ceiling. Jace, still pinning Raphael to the ground, looked at Clary.

"Clary." he said as gently as his rough voice would allow. "What do you see?"

She slowly lifted her head, and it turned ghostly white. She started to shiver, her hands taking turns clenching and unclenching.

Jace stared hard at Raphael. "You called them. Didn't you?"

That stupid grin was still on his face. "Does it matter? There are too many of them, even for you, Wayland."

Jace started breathing in quick, uneven breaths. He was going to kill him. That was the first thing that came to his mind. "Jace," Clary urged. "Don't kill him."

"Why not?" he said savagely.

"Maybe we could use him as a hostage."

Jace almost laughed at the suggestion, but that would be inappropriate. "A _hostage?"_

Clary wasn't answering, so Jace fixed his angry gaze on Raphael, who looked bored as if he knew there was no way Jace and Clary would be able to win. He didn't know them, though.

"I know what I'm doing. Get him on his feet, Jace."

Jace was shocked at how she was handling things. Usually, he would be ordering her around. He wondered if her brain had to adjust to this level of skill, or if she was born with it. Jace looked at her. She was sure of herself, so he shrugged. "All right."

Raphael suddenly looked worried. "This isn't funny."

"That's why nobody's laughing." Jace hauled him on his feet, holding the tip of his knife between his shoulder blades. Raphael was struggling. "I can pierce your heart just as easily through your back," he said. "I wouldn't move if I were you."

Clary turned to face the oncoming vampires. "Stop right there," she said, flinging her hand out in front of her. "Or he'll put that blade through Raphael's heart."

The crowd started to laugh, it sounded like. _"Stop," _She said, sounding intimidating. Jace put pressure on his knife and dragged it down the vampires back. Raphael shrieked.

The boy, the one who has taken Simon, the one who was talking up to Clary at Magnus's party, put an arm out to stop the crowd. "She means it," he said. "They are Shadowhunters."

Another vampire pushed through the crowd. A young Asian girl. "Shadowhunters trespassing on our territory," she said. "They are out of the protection of the Covenant. I say we kill them- they have killed enough of ours."

"Which one of you is the master of this place?" Jace said. "Let him step forward."

The girl bared her fangs at him. "Do not use the Clave language on us, Shadowhunter. You have broken your precious Covenant, coming in here. The Law will not protect you."

"That's enough, Lily." The blonde boy that Jace recognized from the party spoke. "Our master is not here. She is in Idris."

"Someone must rule you in her stead," Jace said, as Raphael's shoulders raised and Jace pressed the blade harder into his back, making him whimper.

It was silent for a minute. The vampires were looking at each other and the ones that were high up were hanging themselves off the railing of the balcony to get a good listen at everything being said. "Raphael leads us," said the blonde.

Lily hissed at him. "Jacob-"

"I propose a trade," Clary said, snapping Lily and Jacob's attention to her. "By now you must know you took home too many people from the party tonight. One of them was my friend Simon."

Jacob raised an eyebrows, both of them. Jace internally scoffed. He felt himself raising one eyebrow at a time, just to show off. "You're friends with a vampire?"

"He's not a vampire. And not a Shadowhunter, either," she added. "Just an ordinary human boy."

"We didn't take any human boys home with us from Magnus's party. That would have been a violation of the Covenant."

"He'd been transformed into a rat. A small brown rat," said Clary. Jace wondered if she knew how ridiculous she sounded. "Someone might have thought he was a pet, or..."

She trailed off. All of the vampires had wide eyes and mouths open, staring at her like she was insane.

"Let me get this straight," Lily said. "You're offering to trade Raphael's life for a _rat?"_

Clary looked back at Jace with a look saying, _help me! _But Jace had no clue what she had gotten herself into.

"Yes," she said, her eyes back on the vampires. "That's the trade we're offering."

They stared at her, and Jace was hoping they were thinking, _How bad could that be? All we have to do is give them the rat! _Jace was staring at the back of Clary's head, her red curls were messy and tangled. Her shoulders shuddered and he wondered how scared she was. He knew she was brave, she has proven that a number of times. But this is her best friend. And if they give them Simon, who says they will let us go without harm?

"Do you mean this rat?" Another vampire, dark colored and had long dreadlocks was holding a tiny brown rat in his hands.

"Simon?" Clary's voice was small.

The rat squeaked and struggled to get out of the boy's grip. "Man, I thought he was Zeke. I wondered why he was copping such an attitude." He shook his head. "I say she can have him, dude. He's already bitten me five times." Jace flinched.

Clary held her hands out, shaking. Lily stepped in front of her. "Wait," she said. "How do we know you won't just take the rat and kill Raphael anyway?"

"We'll give our word," Clary said. Raphael swore in Spanish.

"Clary," Jace said, who was wanting so badly to kill Raphael. "Is this really a-"

"No oath, no trade," said Lily. Jace bit his lip to keep from shouting at Clary. "Elliott, hold on to the rat."

Elliott tightened his grip on Simon, who bit his hand. "Man," he said. "That hurt." Jace furrowed an eyebrow.

Jace heard Clary's voice whispering. "Just swear! What can it hurt?"

"Swearing for us isn't like it is for you mundanes," he snapped. "I'll be bound forever to any oath I make."

"Oh yeah? What would happen if you broke it?"

"I _wouldn't _break it, that's the point-"

"Lily is right," Jacob said. "An oath is required. Swear that you won't hurt Raphael. Even if we give you the rat back."

"I won't hurt Raphael," Clary said, though Jace knew she wanted to, and that she was capable. "No matter what."

Lily smiled at her, which was shocking. "It isn't you we're worried about." Her smile turned into a scowl that pointed at Jace, who was loosing feeling in his hand from holding Raphael as tight as he was.

Jace sighed. "All right. I swear it."

"Speak the oath," Lily said. "Swear on the Angel. Say it all."

Jace shook his head. If he swore not to hurt him, then they could kill Simon, because they would no longer be a threat. "You swear first."

Murmurs spread through the crowd, Jacob looking worried. They weren't planning on giving the rat back. Lily bared her teeth again. "Not a chance, Shadowhunter."

"We have your leader." Jace moved his blade to Raphael's throat and applied pressure. "Ad what have you got there? A rat."

Simon squeaked at him. Jace was glad that he still got under his skin, even when he wasn't human. Clary looked at him. "Jace-"

"Master?" Lily was looking at Raphael.

Jace felt Raphael's throat expand as he swallowed. "A pretty important rat," he said. "for you to come all the way here for him. It is you, Shadowhunter, I think, who will swear first."

Well of course he would say that. He is the head of the vampires. Jace was furious. All he could think about was the way Clary looked when she saw that hole in her backpack. The loss she must have felt when her best friend had been taken by bloodthirsty vampires. "The rat's a mundane," he said. "If you kill him, you'll be subject to the Law-"

"He is on our territory. Trespassers are not protected by the Covenant, you know that-"

"You _brought _him here," Clary protested. "He didn't trespass."

"Technicalities," Jace could here the grin in his voice. "Besides. You think we do not hear the rumors, the news that is running through Downworld like blood through veins? Valentine is back. There will be no Accords and no Covenant soon enough."

Jace jerked his head up. His hate for Valentine took control of his body. "Where did you hear that?"

"All Downworlders know it. He paid a warlock to raise a pack of Raveners only a week ago." Jace saw Clary's shoulders tighten. "He has brought his Forsaken to seek the Mortal Cup. When he finds it, there will be no false peace between us, only war. No Law will prevent me from tearing your heart out on the street, Shadowhunter-"

Clary ran and snatched Simon out of Elliot's hands, knocking Lily to the side. She started muttering soothing things to him. Lily came up behind her and grabbed onto her shoulders. _"Let go!" _She exclaimed. Jace had let go of Raphael while watching Clary fight Lily off as best she could. Jace thought she was handling herself pretty well, but when Lily slapped her- _slapped her-_ Jace lost it.

"Clary!" he shouted. He was running towards her, determined as always to protect her from farther harm. She turned around, her face livid and afraid. She started towards him, but Jacob grabbed her.

Jace reached into his belt and grabbed the Holy water. His hand was shaking as he opened the vile and flung the contents inside at Jacob and Clary. Jacob screamed a terrified scream and released Clary. The scream must have alarmed Lily, who came running over to Jacob. Jace grabbed Clary, but she was struggling out of his grip, her nails scratching against his bare hand.

"Stop it- you idiot- _it's me," _Jace hissed in her ear, blood on his hand.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, but her focus wasn't on Jace anymore. She cried out a warning and Jace turned around and ducked, avoiding Raphael's attack. At least, he thought he avoided it. Raphael grabbed onto the back of his shirt. Jace could here the fabric ripping as Raphael bared his teeth. Jace struggled, but vampire strength is too much, even for a Shadowhunter of Jace's ability.

Suddenly, Raphael screamed and Jace noticed tiny rat clinging to Raphael's arm. The rat bit Raphael, and at that time Jace had never loved Simon more. Or, at all really, this was a good place to start. Raphael let go of Jace as blood trickled out of his mouth. Nasty sight.

"Son of a-" Jace was in total shock.

Raphael threw Simon to the marble floor and he ran straight to Clary, who picked him up and babied him. Muttering his name over and over again.

"There's no time for that. Hold on to him." Jace grabbed her arm, with intensity, as if she was stuck to the floor and he was trying to pull her loose. His other hand glowed with the seraph blade. "Move."

He brought her to the edge of the crowd as the vampires were shying away from his blade. The sound of them hissing was giving Jace a headache.

"Enough standing around!" Raphael shouted, bloodied up, but still pulling off that ridiculous sinister smile he had on. "Seize the trespassers," he said. "Kill them _both- _the rat as well!"

Slowly, as if out of a horror movie, the vampires advanced on them. Jace still had Clary's arm and they started to back up. Jace was trying to think, buy time- something.

Clary was squirming, scared. "Shouldn't we stand back or something?"

That caught Jace off guard. "What? Why?"

"I don't know. In movies that's what they do in this sort of... situation."

Jace laughed. "You," he breathed. "You are the most-"

"The most what?" She demanded, looking at him. He hadn't quite figured out what he was going to say, something about being mundane, but that would get under skin, which is not the best thing right now. The vampires were still advancing, and they were still backing up.

"Nothing," he decided to go with. "This isn't a situation, okay? I save that word for when things get really bad."

_"Really _bad? This isn't really bad? What do you want, a nuclear-"

She broke off and screamed as Lily pounced on Jace, showing her teeth. Jace fumbled through his belt and grabbed another blade. This one went right through Lily's arm, as she fell, making weird sounds that only came from vampires. The others were so close.

Jace was fighting them off left and right, but there were too many.

There was a shattering sound and Jace looked up to realize that the windows were making that sound. Werewolves. They were breaking through the windows that were boarded up, snarling and looking awfully hungry. Jace knew enough to know that they were not here for them. They are here for the vampires.

"Now _this," _Jace said. "is a situation."

* * *

**I really hope you guys liked it! I need to get better at the action scenes, I find myself trying to put everything in a different way Cassie put it in the book, because I don't want to write the exact same thing. So I switch up phrases if I can't change them, but with the action it's hard. Anyways please review!**


	15. Chapter 15: High and Dry

**Hey guys! This chapter is full of Shadowhunter, Werewolf, and Vampire action, so that should be fun! That being said, I don't think I am that great at the action scenes, just because it's hard to change it up from the original description, so if this took a while to update, then that is my reasoning. Never the less I really hope you guys enjoy it, and please check out my other story if you are a fan of the Infernal Devices trilogy.**

CHAPTER 15: HIGH AND DRY

* * *

Jace and Clary weren't the only ones shocked to see the werewolves there. The vampires backed away. Jace inhaled a large breath, having the space to breathe again. Raphael stood ahead of his clan, clutching his injured arm and speaking Spanish. _"Los Ninos de la Luna," _he hissed. The werewolves alternate name- the Moon's Children. Just as vampires are the Night's children.

"I thought they hated each other," Clary whispered. "Vampires and werewolves."

"They do. They never come to each others lairs. Never. The Covenant forbids it." Jace tapped his foot rapidly, not being able to keep still. "Something must have happened. This is bad. Very bad."

"How can it be worse than it was before?"

"Because," he said. "we're about to be in the middle of a war."

"HOW DARE YOU ENTER OUR PLACE?" Raphael screamed as it echoed through the large room. Raphael's face was dark red with anger.

The largest wolf of the pack moved forward. This one had gray matted fur and pointed teeth that could tear at the flesh more ferociously then should be humanly possible. It was panting, giving off it's own anger. The closer it got to Raphael, the faster his skin was melting away. The four feet became two, the hunched back became lean and muscular, the gray fur becoming long, gray hair. This man was wearing a leather jacket and jeans, and the mundane public, would just look normal. But to anyone who had experience, there was still something wolf-like about him. "We didn't come for a blooding," he said. "We came for the girl."

Raphael looked as if they forgot what he was just in the middle of. "Who?"

"The human girl." The werewolf flung an arm in their direction.

"By the Angel," Jace muttered. "You didn't tell me you knew any werewolves."

Clary took a minute to respond. "I don't," she whispered.

"This is bad," Jace said, his hand shaking.

"You said that before."

"It seemed worth repeating."

"Well, it wasn't." Clary backed up and leaned against him, making him stiffen. Her body shrunk with fear and he could feel her shivering. _"Jace. _They're all looking at me."

Jace looked at the crowd, and she was right. The many, many vampires heads were turned toward them , looking down at Clary with fierce eyes. Even the werewolves were turning toward her. Raphael narrowed his eyes and made a guttural sound with his throat. "You can't have her," he said. "She trespassed on our ground; therefore she's ours."

The werewolf laughed. Jace compared the two sides, physically. The werewolves was tall, muscular and tough looking. Raphael was frail, but he was a vampire. It would be idiotic to underestimate him. "I'm so glad you said that," the werewolf said, and launched himself into the air. His body changed into the gray wolf in midair. His mouth was wide open, ready to tear Raphael to pieces. He hit his target square in the chest, and Raphael latched onto the wolf's fur. Together they started to wrestle, in a way so vicious that Jace had to blink, hoping it would all just go away.

The other vampires finally got over their shock and charged, the werewolves meeting the in the center of the ballroom.

Jace whistled. "Raphael is really having an exceptionally bad night."

"So what?" Clary said, an annoyed edge to her voice. She had sat up straight, still holding onto the rat. "What are _we_ going to do?"

Jace glanced at the scene. He thought about running, but that wouldn't go unnoticed. "Simon!" Clary screamed, and she ran for the corner where the rotting drapes were hanging on the wall. "Simon, _stop!"_

Jace raised his eyebrows when he saw the rat flee. "What is he-" he grabbed Clary's arm and jerked her backward. "Clary, don't chase the rat. He's fleeing. That's what rats do."

She spun around, her eyes bright green with fury. "He's not a rat. He's Simon. And he bit Raphael for you, you ungrateful cretin." She yanked her arm free and dashed toward the rotting drapes. Jace followed as Clary moved the drapes aside to reveal- a door. Clary muttered something excitedly to Simon and she picked him up.

"A door, eh? Well, does it open?"

She tried the handle. "It's locked. Or stuck."

Jace threw himself against the door, which didn't budge. He cursed at the pain in his shoulder. "My shoulder will never be the same. I expect you to nurse me back to health."

She rolled her eyes. "Just break the door down, will you?"

Jace looked up past Clary and he felt his eyes widen. "Clary-"

She turned around as Jace continued to try at the door, keeping his eyes on her. She screamed when she saw the wolf coming for her and took out the rose hilted dagger he gave her. She threw the dagger straight at the werewolf and it landed in the wolf's side. Jace gasped in amazement, but only for a moment. The other wolves raced toward the door, except one, which paused near the wounded wolf. Jace thrust his body against the door a third time. The wood finally broke apart, leaving his shoulder in pain. "Three times a charm," he said as he grabbed his shoulder. He climbed through the dark whole in the broken door, holding out his tired hand. "Clary, come _on."_

She ran up to him, shutting the door behind her. Two heavy bodies thudded against it, and Clary fumbled for the bolt that was no longer there. Jace had broken that off of the door.

"Duck," he said, and as she did he started to draw a rune on the door to keep anyone else out. This rune, that was shaped like a rayed star, meant _to hold against pursuit. _

"I lost your dagger," Clary said in a small voice. "I'm sorry."

Jace smirked. "It happens." He slid the stele into his pocket. The wolves weren't giving up, the loud thuds echoing in the room. "The rune will keep them back, but not for long. We'd better hurry."

Looking where they were heading, Jace was almost certain the wolves would break the door before they got out. They stood in front of a steep, narrow staircase, that looked like it would crumble at the step. "All right," Clary said, nodding. "You go first."

Jace tried to smile, but the muscles in his face were worn out from shouting and grunting that it wouldn't allow him. "You know how I like to be first. But slowly," he added. "I'm not sure the stairs can hold our weight."

Each step creaked beneath their feet, rattling at their every move. Clary shrieked, and Jace looked back. A chunk of the banister broke off in her hand. Jace laughed half-heartedly. He grabbed her hand, warm in his. "Here. Steady."

They tried to climb the stairs as quickly as possible, while trying their best to stay safe. That was nearly impossible, but they passed landing after landing. Jace never saw a door, but heard a muffled explosion followed by something that sounded inexplicably like paws hitting the floor. "They've gotten past the door," Jace said, through gritted teeth. "Damn- I thought it would hold for longer."

"Do we run now?" Clary asked swiftly.

_"Now _we run," he said, and thudded up the shrieking steps, nails popping out of place when they ran. They wolves were getting closer, and like always during a fight, Jace pictured his death. This one vicious and cruel, him chewed to bits inside a hungry wolf. But what made it worse this time is that there was another death he was picturing. Red curls spilling out of the wolf's mouth...

Jace sped up the stairs faster, having his motive right behind him.

They reached the sixth landing and they flung themselves onto it. Jace was relived to see the huge steel door awaiting them. It was pretty scary looking, with the nails popping out of it. It was propped open and Jace kicked it so it would widen. They ran passed the door and Jace shut it closed, relived when it worked. They wouldn't have that much time, thought. Werewolves were highly intelligent.

When Jace actually took in their surroundings, he realized that they were... on the roof?

The sky was black right above them, stars sparkling as if from a romantic novel. Except this wasn't a novel, not a romantic one at least. More a thriller, or action or fantasy.

A water tower was sitting on a raised platform on one end of the roof, and something large concealed by a tarp at the other. "This must be how they get in and out," he said. "They fly up here. Not that that does us much good."

"There might be a fire escape," Clary suggested, her voice staggered and out of breath. They walked to the edge of the roof to find the fire escape twisted into something that _definitely _was no longer a fire escape. "Or not," she said.

A loud rattling sound came from behind them and Jace turned around. The door was shaking, because pushed against and sounding as if it would burst. Jace pressed both his hands up to his tired eyes, rubbing them, trying to wake himself from this ridiculous exhaustion. It was very hot outside, and the added nerves made him sweat. "Think, Wayland, _think-" _

He thought back to the object underneath the tarp. _Motorcycle. _He thought. He raised his head. "That's _it," _he dropped his hands and turned around. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before." He dashed for the tarp when he realized he was the only one running. He turned to face Clary, who was staring off into space. "Come _on, _Clary." he said, which seemed to be a new phrase of his.

She shook her daze and followed him, rat squealing in her hand. They reached the tarp and Jace tugged at it. Away the tarp went, and revealed many shiny motorcycles.

Jace reached for the closest one, a gorgeous dark red color that Jace usually would have marveled at. It had gold flames painted on the tank and fenders. He hopped on, looking at Clary over his shoulder. "Get on."

Clary stared at him as if he were crazy, which he probably was, considering this is a pretty big risk. "Are you kidding?Do you even know how to drive that thing? Do you have _keys?"_

"I don't need keys," he explained. "It runs on demon energies. Now, are you going to get on, or do you want to ride your own?"

Clary hesitated, but then climbed on the back of the bike.

"Good," Jace said. "Now put your arms around me." If the situation were different, his voice would have cracked. She did, her hands settling on his chest, sending a warm shock up his body. Jace leaned forward and jammed the stele into the ignition. It roared to life and Jace let out a gasp of relief. An irritated squeak sounded from Clary's pocket. Jace chuckled at the rat's jealousy.

"Jace!" Clary shouted, and it was hard to here her over the loud engine. "What are you doing?"

"Pushing in the choke!"

"Well, hurry it up! The door-"

Jace heard the door break open, and knew that werewolves and vampires were pouring out of the door like crazy. Jace jerked back as the motorcycle lurched forward. Jace heart was beating and Clary's hands held onto his belt. They were riding toward the edge of the roof, and quickly at that. "This might not work!" he shouted, but even he couldn't hear himself. He could feel his heart hammering inside as the front wheel traveled over the edge of the roof.

* * *

They started to hurtle downwards, and Clary screamed in his ear. It left his eardrum pulsing as he cursed under his breath. _We are falling down._ But then the cycle made a sputtering sound and flew toward the night sky.

Jace opened his mouth in astonishment at the beauty. He whooped and hollered in excitement and relief. He could still hear the wolves barking and howling in the background.

He felt small arms tighten around him. "My mother always told me that if I rode a motorcycle with a boy, she'd kill me," Clary yelled over the engine.

Jace laughed. "She wouldn't say that if she knew me," he called back to her, knowing he sounded cocky. "I'm an excellent driver."

"I thought you guys said only _some _of the vampire bikes can fly?"

Jace steered them around a stop light changing, and Jace watched as all of the cars rode down on the street. "Only some of them can!"

"How did you know this was one of them?"

"I didn't!" he called out gleefully. Jace pulled upward on the handles making the motorcycle rise vertically, like a wheelie would, but in the air. He heard Clary shriek and her hands reached his belt again.

"You should look down!" he shouted. "It's awesome!"

Jace turned so they were heading toward the highway, on their way to the Institute. The view was gorgeous, rivers snaking in ways that can only be seen on maps, the grass shimmering from morning dew. Jace turned south just below the Queensboro Bridge. From here, you could see the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. He aimed for a small island.

"Are you all right?" Jace shouted, suddenly realizing she hadn't said anything. She held him tighter as the response, her chest against his back. He could feel her heart beat rapidly through his shirt. "Clary?" he called again. "Clary, are you all right?"

He felt her chin against his back move side to side. "It's all right, Simon." is all she said, but she said it in a breath, as if she were about to throw up. That would not be pleasant. "It was just the bridge-"

Jace left Clary to her conversation with her rat, but he still listened in. There was no squeaking, as far as he could hear. "Yes, very pretty," Clary said. "Nice sunrise."

_Sunrise. _Jace froze. Sunrise. "Sunrise?" he said out loud and jerked the cycle to the right. They were plunging toward the water, and Jace could only hope that they could last longer.

Clary was leaning against him again. "What's so bad about sunrise?"

"I told you! The bike runs on demon energies!" He pulled back, and now they were low enough to be level with the water. The cycle was skimming the surface, almost like they were riding on water. It would have been cool, except that if they weren't careful, they would be close to drowning. Not that he's questioning his own skill in the water... he's questioning the rat's. "As soon as the sun comes up-"

The bike was sputtering. This caused Jace to swear/scream and slam his fist into the accelerator. The bike lurched forward, but then stopped. Jace swore again as the sun was rising faster every second. He spotted a practically empty parking lot.

"Hang onto me!" Jace shouted, as the bike started to go out of control. "Hang on to me, Clary and _do not let-" _

The bike hit the asphalt and tilted, as if it were turning itself. Jace looked down to make sure that he saw hands on his belt, which he did. When the bike struck the concrete pillar, the hands flew off his belt and he tumbled sideways on the ground, rolling, his clothes tearing. He could feel new wounds blooming and old ones opening.

He painfully got himself up and stared into space for a second, trying to get his vision back on track. He then hurried over to Clary, but slowed down when he saw someone behind her, also on the ground in pain. Someone easily recognizable. Messier hair than usual, messy black clothes and a rather irritating face. Simon.

Simon's hand was on Clary's shoulder. "Clary?"

_"Simon!"_

Then the idiot reached over to touch her face, as if oblivious to the cuts and bruises covering her white skin. "Ow!" she said in response.

"Are you okay? You look great," he said, and smiled that annoying smile of his. "The best thing I've ever seen-"

"That's because you don't have your glasses on," she said, and Jace looked at Simon. He didn't realize he had no glasses on. He wondered if they were at Magnus's house on the floor next to the bar.

Jace jumped as Simon threw his arms around Clary. He held her in a trusting embrace. Both of their eyes were closed, and Jace felt the pang in his chest that he had learned to expect when it came to Clary.

"Clary," Simon said, as if he had never said the name before. "I thought- I thought you-"

"Wouldn't come back for you? But of course I did," she said. "Of course I did." Her arms wrapped around him and they smiled. Simon muttered her name over and over again, it started to replay in Jace's head. _Clary. Clary. Clary. _ The sight of the two of them together burned Jace's eyes and heart in a new way that Jace never thought possible. He looked away.

* * *

**Thank you guys for reading, and sorry this took so long! Please review!**


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